In Love & Confused (danisnotonfire)
by haitotorobunny
Summary: Tori Rider is you're average, and awkward, young adult. She resides in Florida with her best friend, Ari. Everything is great for Tori and her flourishing YouTube career. But will she ever find love? Dan Howell, a British YouTuber, decides to visit the states to clear his head from a broken past. They eventually start to date. Can it last the test of a long distance relationship?
1. Great Success

I snatched my purse off the kitchen counter and slung it over my shoulder.  
"Look I have to go, okay. We'll do lunch later!" I said, winking at Ari, who was walking over to the couch. She yawned and nodded her head. She was still in her pajamas, it was only 9:00.  
She started to smooth her messy dirty blonde hair as she replied, "Yeah sure. And not McDonalds this time, okay! Someplace fancy! We're celebratingk!" She smiled widely as she plopped down onto the couch, turning Saturday morning Spongebob on.  
I smiled to myself as I grabbed my car keys and walked out the door, closing it firmly behind me. I lived in an apartment with Ariana, or Ari, as most called her. We moved to Florida a little over a year ago, right out of high school. I knew I wasn't right for college, and Ari declared she wasn't smart enough to complete it. We came up with the brilliant idea of moving from our little hometown in Iowa. But there's a catch to all of this. Both me and Ari are YouTubers. I know this sounds a little strange but we both make videos on YouTube and people actually watch us! In fact, they love us!  
We both created our YouTube channels in the beginning of senior year. It actually started out as a school project. We needed to make a short video just being ourselves and talking about topics that interested us. Then we'd upload the video to a channel we had to make on YouTube, and then play the video for the class. I honestly hated this idea. I was always so awkward and I knew I'd come across that way in my video. I dreaded the whole thing. By the way, we were allowed to do ANYTHING for our video. Ari, my only friend at the time, decided to make a beauty video. She ended up doing a makeup tutorial. That's what she actually does now for her channel, she's a beauty guru, and a pretty damn good one. She was also a natural in front of the camera. She has a bubbly personality that you just want to get to know.  
Me, on the other hand, not so much. I decided to use my older brothers camera. After a week of procrastinating on what to do, and one day before the project was due, I finally sat down on my bed. I set up the tripod on the floor in front of my bed. It was now or never, I needed to finish the video tonight or I'd fail my first project. Sighing, I turned my camera on...  
"Hey guys.." I waved meekly.  
"My name's Tori..." I half smiled. I had no idea what I was going to talk about. I literally turned the camera on without a clear thought.  
"So basically I'm making this video for a school project, we, um, don't need to get into details..." I decided the best way to get through this was to just be myself, and hope that I don't come off as an awkward weirdo, like I normally do.  
"To be completely honest, I'm not that, um, excited to be doing this. As you can tell I'm not very comfortable being on camera-" My phone started to go off, I was getting a call.  
"Oh my gosh, hold on." I clicked out of the call. I was bright red as I turned my head back to the camera.  
"I'm so sorry. Wow this is so unprofessional." I took a breath and laughed slightly, yet awkwardly.  
"Do you like my phone case?" I asked suddenly. "I got it the other day. I quite like it. It has studs on the back." I held my phone up to the camera so they could see.  
"I don't know, it's fine for now. So yeah I went to a party last week. Not like a real one, it was for my cousin. She's 14 now. But her cake had fondant on it. And oh my gosh fondant is SOO good." I laughed again. Basically this went on for another two minutes. Me being completely random and talking about whatever came to mind. I quickly edited out my awkward pauses and added some catchy, light hearted background music. All I needed to do was make my YouTube channel and upload it.  
Eventually, I came up with the name 'LittleMsTori' and I uploaded the video. Closing my laptop, I sighed. Finally that horrible project was over with and I'd never have to make another YouTube video again.  
Ahh, the irony of that. I got a 100 on my project (my teacher noted I did everything he was hoping for in the project, I was myself.) After I got my 100 I didn't go onto my YouTube channel for about a month. It didn't interest me, and I obviously wasn't planning to do more videos.  
Standing in the lunch line one afternoon, I shuffled further to the cash register behind the kid in front of me. Suddenly, I heard "TOORRRIIIII!". I turned my head and saw Ari running towards me, crashing through the sea of kids roaming the cafeteria. She grab my arm, almost knocking over my tray. "Tori!" She shouted again, catching her breath.  
"What?" I asked, my face burning, I was so embarrassed over the scene she made. She didn't even notice the people turning to stare at us.  
"You need to see what happened!" She started to tug me out of the line.  
"Wait let me pay first!"

*Ten Minutes Later*

"Oh...my god..." I whispered.  
Ari had promptly dragged me out of the cafeteria and into the library. We both stood huddled in front of a computer. She had her YouTube channel 'OhSnapItsAri' pulled up. {side note: this YouTube channel name is inspired by Ariana Grandes YouTube 'osnapitzari' but the two aren't related. I just couldn't think of another name haha} She had jabbed her finger onto the computer screen, pointing to her number of subscribers. The number read '14,782'. She then refreshed, and the number read '14,793'. "They're growing by the seconds!" She whispered back. We WERE in the library, we had to whisper.  
"How? I mean, like how is this possible?" I asked, utterly shocked. Why were so many people subscribing? She had one video! And it was a school project! It was unreal!  
Ari then clicked onto her video, and I had to hold back a gasp. 94,089 views.  
"I can't believe this either! But look! People actually watched the video, and they loved it! Tori, you should read the comments, they are so wonderful I was in actual tears last night, and I forgot to text you about it." She said as she smiled widely. "But wait! This isn't the best part!" She whispered as she searched for my YouTube channel. She clicked on LittleMsTori and again pointed to the subscriber number. I gasped extremely loudly and put my hand over my mouth.  
"SHH" the librarian hissed at me. I completely ignored her. I stared at my number of subscribers. There were 29,647 of them. Ari refreshed. 31,004.  
Later that night, I read the comments on my video, which had 142,000 views. Most of them claimed how much they related to my awkwardness and my shyness and how they loved my quirky sense of humor. It felt so incredibly unreal. It was that moment when me an Ari decided to make YouTube videos regularly. My attitude towards the website completely changed. I loved it. Turns out, I could actually be myself. Something I always found extremely hard. I continued to make random videos, sometimes talking about one topic, and others I just chatted about whatever came to mind. By the end of senior year I had 145,738 subscribers and Ari had 127,091 subscribers.  
Other YouTubers had contacted us, asking to do videos with them. Since we were still in high school and since we lived in Iowa, doing those videos would be impossible. Over the Internet I became very close to a few fellow YouTubers, and for the first time, I felt like I had real friends. Besides Ari of course.  
But anyway, that's the tale of how we became YouTubers. I don't know how many times I've emailed my old teacher thanking him for assigning the project, and telling him never to stop assigning it. During the rest of the year, me and Ari also took some video editing classes. They helped me, but mostly Ari, who's videos were more technical. They required a lot of editing, since she had to show a lot of makeup and stuff. She has also dived into the world of hair and fashion, I should mention.  
My parents didn't dwell on my channels success, they just wanted me to plan for college. Doing YouTube videos had convinced me otherwise. I wanted to travel, to meet the YouTubers I befriended over Twitter. I wanted to expand my channel and to continue doing videos, something that'd be nearly impossible if I went to college. I also did weekly YouNow liveshows to keep in contact with my fans. That would also have to stop. My parents said that YouTube will only be a hobby, and nothing more. They said it wouldn't pay the bills, but a college degree and a decent job would. Again, so much irony in that. In fact, YouTube DID start paying the bills. Because of my success, I was accepted into the YouTube Partnership Program. I started to get paid for making videos. (Again that completely shocked me, how could it not?) Eventually, I convinced my parents that a normal profession wouldn't do any good for me. I'd always be the awkward girl making random videos and putting smiles on people's faces.  
Ari was also Partnered, and together we moved out to Florida. After living here for a year, we felt right at home. I've never felt happier in my entire life. As I've mentioned, Ari was my only friend in high school. It was true. And I was even confused as to why SHE was even my friend. I was very shy, and I hated being in public. I felt constantly judged, constantly laughed at. I'm so beyond glad I made videos on YouTube. My fans understand me and write the loveliest comments. They truly make my day. I try to respond to as many as possible. Also, on Twitter, I try to reply to as many of my fans as possible, and I continue to do weekly YouNows. I think it's very important to try to stay connected to my fans. They deserve that, considering they technically pay my rent.  
Two years after starting my channel, I have 400,000 subscribers. I hit that outstanding number last night, and I actually started crying. The unreal feeling of it all overwhelmed me. Ari was a little past 300,000. So yes, hitting 400,000 subscribers is what we were celebrating today. I didn't want to make a fancy, and expensive, deal about it but Ari insisted. I want to casually call it lunch, but Ari of course wanted to make a big deal. I love that girl. She's my best friend, and probably always will be. And she wasn't even jealous of the distance between our amount of subscribers.  
Once outside, I slumped into the drivers seat, thinking about the indoor fireworks I was going to buy. I was making a little celebratory video and I wanted to do something exciting. However, the only place that sold the kind I wanted was about an hour and a half away. I didn't know exactly how to get there and I didn't know how bad traffic would be, and in Florida it's usually always bad. That's why I was leaving so early. I also wanted to get back at around 12:30ish, the perfect time to have lunch with Ari.  
While I pulled out of the parking lot, Boyfriend by Justin Bieber started playing on the radio. It suddenly got me thinking, was I ever going to have a boyfriend? I know that sounds pathetic but I honestly haven't had a boyfriend since 11th grade. Oh god, I AM pathetic. I didn't really know any boys in real life that I'd be interested in dating. I DO have guy friends over the Internet, that are other YouTubers. But I haven't met any in real life. I continued to ponder whether or not I'd ever fall in love one day, until the song ended and my thoughts drifted elsewhere.

A/N: wow okay this is the first ever fanfic I've written. Interesting. Okay well firstly, I know this probably seems boring, and I know I haven't mentioned Dan yet, but I wanted give some background info on Tori and Ari, and about their YouTube channels. Tori is a lot like me, so hopefully I can make her seem relatable enough. So bare with me with on this first Chapter, okay? More good stuff to come! (Hopefully). ALSO, my friend Carolyn came up with the name Tori, so yay! (And if you're reading this, Care, then HIII!)

Characters:  
***Tori looks like this: .  
***Ari looks like "bananajamana" on YouTube when she has her natural wavy hair.

Anywho, that's practically it. I hope you enjoyed so far. And I can hopefully make the next chapter more interesting. And I'm glad I got most of the background info out of the way. Commenting and stuff is much appreciated  
Ps: I'm not a huge fan of the song Boyfriend (don't judge me), but I needed a song that got Tori thinking about love lol  
Thanks for reading! -L


	2. Taking A Risk

Standing in line, balancing the fireworks of my choice on my hip, I glanced around the tiny store. I sighed, nothing of interest. I guess I'm worn out from the crazy long drive, I'm already dreading the ride home. Then my thoughts drifted to Ari and our special lunch. Ari, of course, chose a very expensive restaurant. She has great taste, I'll tell you that. I'm so excited. Suddenly I'm nudged by the guy behind me, I shake my head and look, the line was moving.

*1 hour and 30 minutes later*

I pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant and parked my car. I got a text from Ari.  
"Sorry babe! I'll be a little late, like only ten minutes! I left my flat iron on and I need to drive all the way home to turn it off...UGHHHH! Haha but at least the apartment isn't on fire...I hope D:"  
I laughed and rolled my eyes. I replied saying it was fine.  
Since I had ten minutes to spare, I decided to go on Twitter and reply to some of my fans. I try to be cheerful, in hopes of making the persons day. That's something most YouTubers, or popular people in general, don't understand; one tweet can make a persons LIFE.  
I start by writing out a tweet,  
"Since i have to wait 10 minutes for ItsAri to arrive at the restaurant (she's always late;) imma reply to some people :D"  
I then scroll through my mentions. Another thing I should mention is that I like to reply in all caps and use a lot of emoticons, it gets my fans pumped and I don't know, I like seeing my mentions in all caps (that's weird I know). I reply to about 30 people (I'm pretty fast at replying) before I notice I have about three minutes before Ari arrives. I decide to just scroll through my timeline.  
A tweet catches my eye, it mentions Florida.  
"guys. thinking about going to America soon, specifically Florida. It's short notice but anyone care to be my tour guide? ;)"  
I look who tweeted it.  
Danisnotonfire.  
The name was obviously familiar, since we both followed each other, but it wasn't incredibly familiar.  
Danisnotonfire is a British YouTuber. I only talked to him twice in real life, both times were at last years VidCon, and I've seen, what?, 5 or 6 of his videos? Not too many.  
Why did he want to go to Florida? There weren't any big YouTube events happening here. I click reply. Wait, what am I doing? Am I actually going to volunteer to be his tour guide? What does that even mean? 'Come on, Tori. Just reply and see if he replies back!', the voice in my head says.  
I bite my lip as I reply,  
" danisnotonfire I live in Florida haha if you want, I can show you around? I know some awesome stores and restaurants too :)" I hit send.  
Almost instantly, my mentions are flooded with "OMFG YOU AND DAN?" and "NEW OTP OVER HERE" and "AWW THATS SO SWEET OF YOU AWWAWWAWW"  
Wait, what?! No, I didn't ask in any kind of seductive way! OTP? Seriously? Then I started to blush because I actually started thinking about us actually being together, which I quickly shrugged off. I refreshed and there it was, a reply from Dan,  
" LittleMsTori haha yeah that actually sounds awesome! I'm thinking about flying down in a week or so. It'll be great seeing you again :D"  
My mouth dropped. Was he actually serious about coming down? Who's going to pick him up from the airport?Where was he going to stay? Would I have to drive him around? Or would he rent a car? A million questions danced around in my mind. And...why was he so excited to see me?  
Then I got another tweet from him,  
" LittleMsTori I'm DMing you my number, we can talk about it later, if you really could show me around :) if you don't want to, that's fine.." He was having second thoughts too...  
Should I tell him yes?  
'DO IT TORI, TAKE A RISK!' Said the voice in my head again.  
"Didn't I just take one by replying in the first place?!" I said out loud to myself.  
I sighed, fine.  
I replied,  
" danisnotonfire of course I can show you around :) I'm out to lunch now, so I'll text you later"

*Thirty Minutes Later*

Ari and I were in the middle of eating our delicious lunch.  
"So.." Ari said between mouthfuls,  
"I saw that, uh, tweet you sent to Dan Howell." She smirked.  
"What? No wait what..?" I started stammering. Why was I stammering?!  
"Nothing, just...where's he gonna stay exactly?" Her voice rising, so I knew that wasn't at all what she was implying.  
"Just because I only met him twice doesn't mean we aren't friends, we follow each other ya know."  
"Yeah but aren't you nervous?" She took a sip of water.  
"About what?"  
"I don't know, he's a guy! A British one! And he seemed really excited to see you." She smiled and laughed.  
"So?"  
"Oh Tor, you're so clueless sometimes." She shook her head and continued to eat.  
I couldn't help but blush. And I honestly didn't even know why I was. But I couldn't help but think more about Dan. I haven't seen his most recent videos, I thought about his personality. He was so sweet and funny when I met him. I decided that when I got home I'd catch up on his videos before I filmed my special 400,000 subscriber video.

A/N: firstly, the twitters I used ( ItsAri and LittleMsTori) are made up. Only Dans ( danisnotonfire) is real :) also the whole replying in caps and stuff nonsense is based off of Christian Novelli's twitter, he replies to fans a lot like that (Christian aka TouchTheSkyFilms on the Tube)  
So yeah! Dans flying to the states :) I bet you were wondering how they'd get together, but that's still to come.  
Don't forget to save my story to your library so you're notified when I update it. Reviewing and following is seriously appreciated!  
I was also going to make the restaurant scene a lot longer. Is this chapter a good length? Or should I be adding more? Tell me what ya think! :)  
As always, thanks for reading! ~L


	3. Getting Away

Standing in line, balancing the fireworks of my choice on my hip, I glanced around the tiny store. I sighed, nothing of interest. I guess I'm worn out from the crazy long drive, I'm already dreading the ride home. Then my thoughts drifted to Ari and our special lunch. Ari, of course, chose a very expensive restaurant. She has great taste, I'll tell you that. I'm so excited. Suddenly I'm nudged by the guy behind me, I shake my head and look, the line was moving.

*1 hour and 30 minutes later*

I pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant and parked my car. I got a text from Ari.  
"Sorry babe! I'll be a little late, like only ten minutes! I left my flat iron on and I need to drive all the way home to turn it off...UGHHHH! Haha but at least the apartment isn't on fire...I hope D:"  
I laughed and rolled my eyes. I replied saying it was fine.  
Since I had ten minutes to spare, I decided to go on Twitter and reply to some of my fans. I try to be cheerful, in hopes of making the persons day. That's something most YouTubers, or popular people in general, don't understand; one tweet can make a persons LIFE.  
I start by writing out a tweet,  
"Since i have to wait 10 minutes for ItsAri to arrive at the restaurant (she's always late;) imma reply to some people :D"  
I then scroll through my mentions. Another thing I should mention is that I like to reply in all caps and use a lot of emoticons, it gets my fans pumped and I don't know, I like seeing my mentions in all caps (that's weird I know). I reply to about 30 people (I'm pretty fast at replying) before I notice I have about three minutes before Ari arrives. I decide to just scroll through my timeline.  
A tweet catches my eye, it mentions Florida.  
"guys. thinking about going to America soon, specifically Florida. It's short notice but anyone care to be my tour guide? ;)"  
I look who tweeted it.  
Danisnotonfire.  
The name was obviously familiar, since we both followed each other, but it wasn't incredibly familiar.  
Danisnotonfire is a British YouTuber. I only talked to him twice in real life, both times were at last years VidCon, and I've seen, what?, 5 or 6 of his videos? Not too many.  
Why did he want to go to Florida? There weren't any big YouTube events happening here. I click reply. Wait, what am I doing? Am I actually going to volunteer to be his tour guide? What does that even mean? 'Come on, Tori. Just reply and see if he replies back!', the voice in my head says.  
I bite my lip as I reply,  
" danisnotonfire I live in Florida haha if you want, I can show you around? I know some awesome stores and restaurants too :)" I hit send.  
Almost instantly, my mentions are flooded with "OMFG YOU AND DAN?" and "NEW OTP OVER HERE" and "AWW THATS SO SWEET OF YOU AWWAWWAWW"  
Wait, what?! No, I didn't ask in any kind of seductive way! OTP? Seriously? Then I started to blush because I actually started thinking about us actually being together, which I quickly shrugged off. I refreshed and there it was, a reply from Dan,  
" LittleMsTori haha yeah that actually sounds awesome! I'm thinking about flying down in a week or so. It'll be great seeing you again :D"  
My mouth dropped. Was he actually serious about coming down? Who's going to pick him up from the airport?Where was he going to stay? Would I have to drive him around? Or would he rent a car? A million questions danced around in my mind. And...why was he so excited to see me?  
Then I got another tweet from him,  
" LittleMsTori I'm DMing you my number, we can talk about it later, if you really could show me around :) if you don't want to, that's fine.." He was having second thoughts too...  
Should I tell him yes?  
'DO IT TORI, TAKE A RISK!' Said the voice in my head again.  
"Didn't I just take one by replying in the first place?!" I said out loud to myself.  
I sighed, fine.  
I replied,  
" danisnotonfire of course I can show you around :) I'm out to lunch now, so I'll text you later"

*Thirty Minutes Later*

Ari and I were in the middle of eating our delicious lunch.  
"So.." Ari said between mouthfuls,  
"I saw that, uh, tweet you sent to Dan Howell." She smirked.  
"What? No wait what..?" I started stammering. Why was I stammering?!  
"Nothing, just...where's he gonna stay exactly?" Her voice rising, so I knew that wasn't at all what she was implying.  
"Just because I only met him twice doesn't mean we aren't friends, we follow each other ya know."  
"Yeah but aren't you nervous?" She took a sip of water.  
"About what?"  
"I don't know, he's a guy! A British one! And he seemed really excited to see you." She smiled and laughed.  
"So?"  
"Oh Tor, you're so clueless sometimes." She shook her head and continued to eat.  
I couldn't help but blush. And I honestly didn't even know why I was. But I couldn't help but think more about Dan. I haven't seen his most recent videos, I thought about his personality. He was so sweet and funny when I met him. I decided that when I got home I'd catch up on his videos before I filmed my special 400,000 subscriber video.

A/N: firstly, the twitters I used ( ItsAri and LittleMsTori) are made up. Only Dans ( danisnotonfire) is real :) also the whole replying in caps and stuff nonsense is based off of Christian Novelli's twitter, he replies to fans a lot like that (Christian aka TouchTheSkyFilms on the Tube)  
So yeah! Dans flying to the states :) I bet you were wondering how they'd get together, but that's still to come.  
Don't forget to save my story to your library so you're notified when I update it. Reviewing and following is seriously appreciated!  
I was also going to make the restaurant scene a lot longer. Is this chapter a good length? Or should I be adding more? Tell me what ya think! :)  
As always, thanks for reading! ~L


	4. Up All Night

~Some songs you might enjoy while reading: Losing It by Never Shout Never~ (since this chapter is short and not about a whole lot, I only recommend one song. Also this chapter is kinda laid back :)

*Tori's POV*

I set my tripod up in front of my bed and turned my camera on. Then I plopped down on my bed and sighed. It was about 2 in the morning, when I usually filmed my videos. I've always been a night person. I usually stayed up all night, I know it's bad. I love sleep so much but I actually procrastinate going to bed. I knew Ari was in the living room watching a movie and editing her latest video. The main reason we're such good roommates is because we're both night owls. We don't disturb each other.  
I waved at the camera.  
"Hey guys. So something pretty insane happened yesterday. And I'm so excited to talk all about it." I smiled.  
"Wait for it...THERE'S FOUR HUNDRED THOUSAND OF YOU GUYS!" I practically yelled.  
"Like I seriously can't believe there's so many of you. I just want to thank you guys so much for subscribing and for just supporting me the past two years. When I first made my channel, I never thought I'd have so many people watching me. It's pretty insane." I laughed.  
"I've always been insanely shy," I blushed, "and I've never been the best at making friends. But right now, I feel like I have four hundred thousand friends and it's just...so amazing. I love you guys so much!" I formed a heart with my hands and I held it out to the camera. Then I took a breath and just sat for a moment (I usually edited out my awkward pauses).  
"I've gone through a lot of hard times in the past few years and making these videos has kept me positive. So I just want to say that if you think no one understands you or knows what you're going through, well I do. You're support is why I'm continuing to do this whole YouTube thing. I..couldn't imagine my life without you all..." I smiled; I held back tears. Clearing my throat, I continued,  
"So on that note. I have a sort of surprise in order to celebrate..." I picked up one of the fireworks sitting next to me.  
"I bought fireworks today, they're indoor ones. I'm not exactly sure how to use them." I laughed. "But, lets have a go, shall we?"

*1 hour later*

I was sitting next to Ari on the couch editing my video. I had changed into a pair of dark gray yoga pants and my tribal hoodie, which was m favorite. I also pulled my hair up into a messy bun. Ari was in a pair of PINK sweatpants from Victoria Secrets and was wearing a black tank top. She let her loose natural blond curls down. She already finished editing her video; she was on the Tumblr app on her phone while we watched a rerun of Adventure Time from OnDemand.  
"I'm going to go make some popcorn." I said as I got up off the couch.  
"Cool."  
Once I put the bag of popcorn in the microwave, I leaned against the counter with my arms crossed. Suddenly I felt my phone vibrating from my pocket.  
"It's really late..." I whispered to myself.  
I held my phone up to see who texted.  
'Dan Howell'  
I read the message:  
"Hey Tor. I know it's really late, for both of us. But I just can't sleep. I hope I didn't wake you or anything xx"  
I smiled. He couldn't sleep so he decided to text ME? Why? I wasn't special AT ALL. But it still made me feel good.  
"No I'm actually watching Adventure Time w/ Ari while editing a video :)"  
I hit send just as the buzzer went off for the popcorn.  
Plopping back down next to Ari, I closed my laptop and sat it next to me. I set the bowl of popcorn in between us.  
My phone vibrated again.  
"Who's that?" Ari asked, glancing over. I tried not to smile as I said "Dan". She shrugged and stuffed a handful of popcorn into her mouth.  
I read Dan's text,  
"That cool :) I was nervous about texting you because I didn't know if you'd be up. I'm always such a night owl xx"  
"Same haha :) I can't remember the last time I fell asleep before midnight. So...what do you wanna talk about?"  
"As I said earlier, I want to come to Florida. I want to visit Disney World again xx"  
"I definitely can show you around, Dan" I again asked myself, where was I getting this courage? To actually be able to make such straight forward plans? With a BOY?  
"It'll be so lovely seeing you again. I want to fly to the states in about a week. But I have no idea where I'll be staying xx" I grinned. Everything about that text made me smile; he said he can't wait to see me, he's coming so soon, and I think he was being suggestive with that last part. I went along with it,  
"Aww, I can't wait to see you either! I can definitely pick you up from the airport, and if you want to fly in later at night, you can stay at my apartment for the night :)" I suddenly couldn't remember the last time I sent anyone so many smileys. But for some reason, it felt right. I remembered every detail of our meeting at VidCon. It was the first time a boy showed any real interest in hearing me talk. The rest of that week I couldn't stop thinking about him. But then he got together with his girlfriend and I forgot about him. His girlfriend...she had to be okay with him coming here. Wasn't she?  
Dan and I ended up texting the rest of the night. After we finished making plans for his arrival, we talked about other stuff. He explained that he wasn't with his girlfriend anymore, and that I probably shouldn't mention it to anyone. I promised him I wouldn't. After he said that we started using winky faces here and there. It was amazing. At around 5, Ari trudged off to bed. I stayed on the couch the rest of the night, talking to Dan. I eventually fell asleep against my will at around 8. After the sun rose at around 6, I knew the day had already started for Dan, but he kept on texting me. A five hour time difference was quite annoying with most of my UK YouTuber friends I met online.  
When I finally opened my eyes it was around noon. Yawning, I sat up. Ari was in the kitchen making a smoothie or something, I heard the blender going.  
"Hey!" I called out at her. She turned around and smiled.  
"Hey girly! Okay don't kill me but while you were sleeping you got another text...and I read it."  
"What?!" I shrieked as I scrambled off the couch.  
"Calm down! It was from Dan. Awwwww." She laughed and turned back to her smoothie.  
I blushed as I snatched up my phone and read,  
"Hey, you probably fell asleep :) that's fine. It was so lovely talking to you all night, I really loved it. I'll talk you later xxx"

A/N: wow okay I know this chapter sucked. It's hard to make things sound romantic over text I KNOW. Lol nonetheless I hoped you somewhat enjoyed it. Also I think theres a One Direction song or album or whatever named "Up All Night" but this chapter has no connection to that whatsoever. Reviewing and Following is much appreciated :D  
As always, thanks for reading! ~L


	5. The Boy Who Could Fly

A/N: Hey guys! I hope you don't mind that the authors note will be in the beginning of the chapter from now on(: or until I don't like it anymore. Also I'm soooo sorry it took over a week to update, I've been so busy with school. This chapter also took me like five or six days to write lol. Its a longer one. Don't worry, the next one will be shorter! I was actually going to add a whole other part to this chapter. So is this size good? Would you guys want it to be longer? For this chapter you should listen to Tighten Up by The Black Keys because I LOVE this song. Also it's about searching for love, which everyone does at some point, right? You might also wanna check out A Daydream Away by All Time Low. I might suggest it for future chapters, but oh well. Also the chapter name is a Pierce The Veil reference. It really has nothing to do with the actual lyrics, but Dan flies in on a plane. And I love PTV so...why not?

Thanks for reading xx ~L

"I'll be back soon okay!" I called out to Ari's closed bedroom door. She creaked it open,

"Yeah okay! I'll try to finish filming before you guys get home." She smiled as she closed her door. Ari was filming a hair tutorial or something.

It was 8 o'clock at night and I had to pick Dan up at the airport. He was flying in tonight.

Before walking out of the apartment I looked at myself in the full view mirror resting next to the door. It's there in case we needed a quick once-over before we left the apartment.

I suddenly felt self conscious. I haven't seen Dan in forever. Well, at least it felt like forever. I wanted to look good. I was wearing the same green eyeliner from the day we met. Except now I was wearing false lashes. I curled the tips of my hair with my flat iron. I was wearing a white knitted beanie, and chestnut bailey button uggs. Paired with my dark gray faded skinny jeans, I wore my favorite tribal hoodie. It was white with intricate black, blue, and red triangles. Slung across my chest was my Lily Bloom purse. It also had a very cute tribal pattern. After giving myself the quick look over, I nodded and walked out the door.

On the way to the airport I mentally ran through the plans I had discussed with Dan. After picking him up at the airport I would take him back to my apartment. Tonight, he was going to sleep on our couch. Tomorrow, I'm going to drive him around town getting him things he needed. Like a hotel, a rent-a-car, etc. From there he could plan all of the things he wanted to do in Florida. He kept mentioning Disney. I don't know why, but he was really excited about it. That's about as far as we could plan ahead, I know that sounds pathetic. And another thing, not one of Dans friends knew he was coming here. He kept it all from them. And he made me promise I wouldn't leak the information.

"I still can't believe you're not telling anyone you're coming here.." I said to him when we were skyping a couple nights earlier. He laughed,

"I know, I can't either. I just...can't tell anyone about it. No one knows about my break up with Beth." He sighed and ran his fingers through his dark chocolatey hair.

"Why does no one know? Isn't Bethany gonna eventually tell? It's been weeks Dan...people need to know eventually."

"It's just...embarrassing. The whole thing. Bethany and I promised we'd keep it to ourselves for awhile." I suddenly felt hurt. He hasn't told me what happened to him and Bethany and he begged that I didn't ask about it. Why couldn't he just tell me? I was offended that he didn't, but I kept it to myself.

"Isn't anyone suspicious? You said you haven't seen each other in three weeks."

"Beth's in Reading with her family. She told everyone she needed to spend some time with them, and that she missed them. So, for now, people think that's the reason we haven't seen each other..." He half smiled, his eyes shone.

"Look, just don't tell anyone about me going to Florida, please?" He suddenly asked.

"Well, Ari needs to know...you ARE staying at our place for the first night."

"Yeah, Ari only. I'm not even telling Phil. I'm going to wait until he's asleep to sneak out of the flat and go to the airport. He won't even know. I already told you that, that's why I booked my flight for so late."

"But won't he realize you left when he wakes up and sees you're not there?"

"I'm going to leave a note. It'll explain everything. That way, he can't talk me out of leaving."

"But didn't he see your tweet?" He suddenly smiled, showing all of his teeth.

"You ask so many question, Tor." I blushed.

"I'm..I'm sorry. I'm just curious, that's all." He laughed.

"Don't worry about it, I deleted the tweets. He didn't see anything."

"Okay, okay." I smiled.

Remembering the conversation, I smiled again to myself. When I finally got to the airport and parked, I started to walk towards the building. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw him. He was sitting on a little bench outside, his legs crossed. He was hunched over his phone, scrolling and scrolling. His hair messily whipped in the wind. He was wearing a maroon colored hoodie, black skinny jeans, and black Toms. He was also listening to music with both earbuds tucked into his ears. I was standing about 15 feet away and he hadn't seen me yet. I quickly adjusted my beanie and ran my fingers through the tips of my hair before I slowly walked up to him. All of his luggage was lying on the ground next to the bench. Awkwardly, I said,

"Dan.." He hadn't heard me. I walked a little closer until I was right in front of him. He saw my shoes and slowly looked up. He quickly tugged his earbuds out of his ears, accidentally dropping his phone.

"Shit!" He breathed as he bent down to pick his phone up. I laughed. Smiling, he stood up.

"Tori..." Then he did something I didn't expect. He leaned down and pulled me into a hug. Taken by surprise, I didn't know what to do. Without thinking, I wrapped my arms around the small of his back. He was roughly seven inches taller than me. He was 6 foot and I was only 5'5". He leaned a little further and whispered in my ear, "I'm so glad to finally be here with you." His heavenly british accent sent chills throughout my entire body. He pulled away.

Disappointed that the unexpected hug was over, I smiled and said, "I'm glad you're here too. Come on, we should get back to the car."

We drove in silence for a couple minutes before he piped up, "So...I'm actually here, huh?" I saw him glance at me out of the corner of my eye.

"To be completely honest, I wasn't so sure you'd go through with coming here."

His voice rose as he pretended to be hurt, "What? How could you say that? I always go through with my word!" I laughed and he smiled, sinking further into his seat.

"Are...are you tired?" To be perfectly honest, the car ride was incredibly awkward. Yes, I've skyped with him a couple times. But being with him in person was just...different. Now that he was here, I was trying my hardest not to say anything embarrassing. Same with when we met at VidCon. I tried to say things I thought he'd like. Eventually, though, I had opened up to him and we joked like good friends. But it's been awhile and I was trying again to not be a complete weirdo.

"Oh no, you know I'm a night owl, Tor." Almost instantly, I blushed when he called me 'Tor', as usual. I was so thankful we were in a dimly lit car.

"But, I AM hungry. Know any places we can eat at this hour? I feel like I've gone back in time and I'm hungry for dinner all over again."

*twenty minutes later*

I sat down on one side of the booth holding a tray of food. Dan slid in on the other side. We were at McDonalds. The best America had to offer, right? We both ordered cheese burgers and french fries. Except I ordered a Sprite and he ordered a Pepsi.

Halfway through the meal I realized neither of us had said anything. Why were we both acting so...weird? I wasn't a natural AT ALL talking to boys. I swallowed down another bite before saying,

"This is totally what you had in mind, right?" I laughed.

He smirked, "Oh yeah, totally. This place is just so classy."

"Me and Ari come here all the time, I know, it's pathetic. But our apartment is a short drive from here." He nodded, popping another fry into his mouth.

"What's Ari up to?"

"She's filming a hair tutorial for her channel."

"I hope we don't interrupt her...and speaking oh hair, I really like yours dyed teal." Dan smiled and his eyes lingered just for a moment on my hair, before he turned back to his food.

"Oh no, she promised to finish before we get back. And thank you. I didn't know if I'd like it at first. But now I just love it." I smiled, Dan returned it.

"It looks really good." I lightly blushed.

"We should watch a film tonight." He implored suddenly. I felt "butterflies" in my stomach at the thought of snuggling up next to him while watching a movie. Wait, why am I thinking like this?! 'You know he just broke up with his girlfriend!' I mentally yelled at myself. And, how exactly, do I even feel towards Mr. Dan Howell? Choosing to forget about whatever I was feeling, I said,

"I'm always up for one, I guess. Anything you have in mind? We have a LOT of DVDs." I half smiled.

"Hmmm. Get anything new recently?" I thought for a moment.

"Actually, yeah. We finally got around to getting Wall-E on Blu-ray. I know, I know, we're really slow." Dan gasped,

"You've NEVER seen Wall-E before?!"

"Of course I have! I just finally bought a copy of it." I laughed. After a second, Dan joined in on my laughter. Then, for no apparent reason, we kept on laughing. As if we thought the funniest thing in the world just happened.

"Okay...okay..." Dan breathed between giggles, "We'll see...Wall-E..." We continued to laugh for a couple of minutes before we came to our senses. Then we tossed the remainder of our food into the trash can and walked out to the car.

I parked and helped Dan get his luggage up to our apartment. I unlocked the door and walked in, Dan trailing behind me. It was around 10 o'clock. "Shhhhh wait here." I motioned to Dan to be quiet. I didn't know if Ari was done filming yet. I wandered to the back of the apartment, stopping at Ari's door, completely out of Dan's view. I was about to turn the knob when the door flung open. I gasped and jumped back.

Ari held her hand over her mouth and laughed.

"Oh girl I'm soooo sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." Ari said after she stopped giggling.

"It's okay...are you done filming?"

She nodded and smiled, "Is Dan here? Is he in the living room? You guys took forever to get back!"

"Yep he's waiting in there, and we stopped to get some food, sorry...and Ari..."

"Yeah?" She looked puzzled.

"He wants to watch a movie. I was thinking Wall-E. And I was just wondering...um..."

She grinned, "If you guys could be alone? Sure, I'll make up an excuse to leave you two alone." I breathed a sigh of relief.

I gave her a quick hug, "Thanks, you're the best, Ari."

She smirked, "I know."

"Dan?" I called out and he looked up from his phone as Ari and I walked into the living room.

"Hey Dan, it's great seeing you again!" Ari beamed. I noticed that Dan didn't reach for a hug.

He just politely said, "It's lovely seeing you again, Ari. Thanks so much for letting me stay here the first night." He smiled.

"Oh it's no big deal! Really! I hope you sleep comfortably though. I rounded up the softest blankets we have." His smile dropped a little.

"I don't mean to be a bother, I'm sorry."

I spoke up, "You're no bother at all! We usually stay up all night on the Internet anyway." I laughed.

"Actually, not tonight kiddo. I'm exhausted!" Ari rarely yawned but just now she put on the fakest, yet most realistically sounding, yawn. I had to suppress a giggle.

"But we were hoping to see a film tonight..." Dan furrowed his brows.

"You can watch it without me, really. And I'm pretty sure I need to get some sleep eventually. Well I'm heading to bed, goodnight guys." We said our goodnights as Ari glided back to her room.

"Well then, I guess it's just you and me?" Dan smiled, and I could sense a hint of a smirk. I blushed, not caring if he saw this time.


	6. What You Do In The Dark

A/N: Freaking Happy Birthday to Phil! You're 26! *tears up* also Phil hit 600,000 subscribers and Dan hit 1 million! Wow!33333 So yeah I wanted to get a chapter out every couple days, but school is making it tough. So I'll probably continue to update every weekend :) also Fall Out Boy is back baby! ahh I'm so happy! In honor of that, the song for this chapter is "My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark" by Fall Out Boy. The title of this chapter may or may not be inspired by it(; xx ~L

"Do you mind if I change into my pajamas?" Dan said as he dragged his luggage next to the couch.  
"No, of course not. The bathroom is the first door to the left." I said, jabbing my thumb over my shoulder.  
"Thank you..." He bent down to take his clothes out of his bag.  
"I'm going to go change, too. Be right back."  
I closed my bedroom door behind me. I changed into black yoga pants and my AWG Crewneck Pullover. I tossed all of my daytime clothes into the little hamper, while placing my tribal hoodie on my bed. I also took my beanie off and put it on my dresser. I shook out my hair until it took on a cute messy look.  
I smiled at myself in my little mirror hanging on the wall, and walked back out to the living room. Dan was still in the bathroom, I heard him fumbling around in there when I walked past. I put a bag of popcorn in the microwave and went back over to the tv. I bent down next to our rack of movies and searched for Wall-E. I saw it and smiled. I set everything up so all we had to do was press play. *DING DING DING DING* I shook the popcorn into a big bowl. Me and Ari usually shared a bowl...but would it be okay if Dan and I did? Nerves suddenly took over. 'Oh my gosh. I'm going to be watching a movie with Dan. On the couch. With the lights off. Sharing a bowl of popcorn. What am I doing?!' I thought. My chest tightened. I heard the bathroom door open. 'I can't do this.' I thought to myself. The last time I watched a movie alone with a boy was in high school, with my last boyfriend. I was so nervous. Turns out, all he wanted to do was make out during the whole thing. We broke up a couple of weeks later, he had cheated on me. Ever since then I've always been so insecure. That's why I always took a little longer in the bathroom than normal people; I stare into the mirror, thinking 'I'm not good enough.' And just now I realized that I definitely wasn't good enough for Danisnotonfire. He was practically a celebrity on YouTube. There were thousands of girls who'd love to be me right now, about to watch a movie alone with him. So, why was I here? Why did he even respond to my tweet?  
"Hey." I jumped back, shaken out of my thoughts.  
"Dan! You scared me!" He laughed.  
"Oh I'm sorry, Tor." I blushed. He took the bowl of popcorn from me,  
"Shall we?" He smirked and walked over to the couch. I started playing with the ends of my sleeves as I walked over too. He plopped down, yet careful not to spill the popcorn. I sat down next to him. Closer than I normally would with anyone else, but not too close. I pressed play on the remote and the movie began.  
An hour or so into it, I started to get sleepy. I haven't slept in three days, and the most I've gone without a wink of sleep was two days. I meant to sleep the night before, but I was too anxious about Dan coming here. I spent the entire night on Tumblr. 'STAY AWAKE' I mentally screamed. Since the movie started, Dan had sunk further into the couch. He kept his hands on his lap, however. I caught him glancing at me a couple times, but I ignored it. I fought back yawning the entire movie so far but I eventually did.  
"You tired there, night owl?" Dan said with a smirk.  
"Psh no way!" I playfully pushed him.  
"Liar!" He pushed back. I rolled my eyes.  
"So what?!"  
"It's okay if you are."  
"I don't feel like getting up and going to my room."  
"You don't have to." Dan lowered his tone.  
"But you're supposed to sleep on the couch, silly!" I laughed. He suddenly slung his arm across my shoulder. I looked into his eyes, blushing.  
"You can rest on my shoulder for a little while...if you want." I yawned again before laying my head onto his shoulder, without even thinking. Before I knew it I was snuggling into Dan's side, half asleep.  
"Night, Tor." was the last thing I heard.

*Ari's POV*  
I rolled out of bed, yawning. I grabbed my laptop off my dresser and curled back up into bed. I went on tumblr for a good hour before deciding I should get some grub. I looked at the time on my laptop before closing it. It was 10 in the morning. I shuffled through the hallway and walked into the large room that had both the living room and the kitchen in it. I stop dead in my tracks. I saw Dan and Tori laying on the couch together. Dan was slumped up, laying back, with both legs casually hanging off the edge. Tori was practically on top of him with her arms around his stomach. She had her head buried into his chest. Dans hands were gently resting on her back. It was the cutest thing! I had to hold back an 'AWWWW'. I smiled. Ever since VidCon I thought they'd make such a lovely couple. The looks Dan gave her when she was looking away was just the cutest thing. I was so excited when Tori told me Dan was coming. I immediately agreed. Not for my own enjoyment, but for hers. I was hoping something like this would happen. But not on the first night! I continued to smile as I made my breakfast. I heated up two PopTarts in our toaster, and I sat down at the bar. I quickly ate, and dashed back to my room, careful to not disturb them. I just hoped that when they woke up they'd be happy about spending the night cuddling on the couch.

*Tori's POV*  
I kept my eyes closed, even though I was awake. I suddenly felt a heart beat. It wasn't my own. I slowly opened my eyes. 'OH MY GOD' I thought as I held in a gasp. I was laying on top of Dan with my arms wrapped around him. I felt the steady beat of his heart as my head rested on his chest. I felt his hands on my lower back. I felt butterflies in my stomach. I couldn't believe this was actually happening. Had I really spent the entire night snuggling up against Dan?! I wriggled out his arms, carefully getting up. I tried my hardest not to wake him. I stood up. I looked down on him sleeping. He was so still. His chest moved up and down, rhythmically. I saw a hint of a smile on his face. His hair fell in messy waves, from a night spent laying on the couch. He looked so cute when he was sleeping. I smiled and walked over to Ari's room. I couldn't wait to tell her what had happened. I think she knew about my, um, slight crush on Dan. I went in without even knocking. She had already showered, done her hair and makeup, and had gotten dressed. She was laying on her bed playing on her laptop. When she saw me a huge smile spread across her face. She jumped up and ran over to me. I staggered back as she embraced me in a hug.  
"I'm so happy for you! That was the cutest thing!" I blushed.  
"You saw?"  
"Yes! Wait is Dan still sleeping?" I nodded and she shut the door pulling me over to sit on her bed.  
"Tell me everything!" She grinned.  
I told her how I ended sleeping with Dan on the couch. She nodded and went "aww" at every little thing I said.  
"Are you two together or what?" Ari was the type to get to the point.  
"Spending the night on the couch together doesn't make us a couple."  
"But he clearly likes you if he let you cuddle with him!" I blushed. Cuddle was such a funny word, it sounded childish.  
"I don't know. Do you think he knows I like him?"  
"It's hard to say. Maybe he does considering what happened."  
"Should I bring it up when he wakes up?"  
"Well bring it up naturally. But I mean, come on, how could he NOT have a crush on you?! You're gorgeous!" I smiled and nodded, giving her a quick hug.  
"Thanks, Ar. Seriously you're such a great friend! I'm gonna jump in the shower now."  
After my shower, I blow dried and straightened my hair, and applied some makeup. When I went back to my room to change, I noticed Dan was STILL sleeping. I put on a long sleeved black top that had a White Tigers face on it, with cute detailed rivets on the shoulders. It was slightly too big, but it looked cute like that. I also had on tight black leggings that went down to my ankle. I slipped on my suede light blue wedge sneakers. To go with my shoes I chose to wear a light blue beanie. I loved the color light blue, and I'm constantly thinking about dying my tips that color instead of teal. But for now, they remain teal.  
My stomach started growling so I went to the kitchen. Dan was already in there, rummaging through cabinets. I saw he had already changed his clothes. He was wearing a simple black tshirt, dark gray skinny jeans, and black TOMS. He had already straightened his hair. I cleared my throat. Dan jumped, hitting his head on an open cabinet door.  
"Bloody hell!" He yelped, grabbing his head. I burst out laughing. He turned around, and I saw he was blushing.  
"You scared me!" He laughed.  
"Pay back for scaring me last night!" I stuck out my tongue and he smirked. I suddenly wondered if he'd bring up what happened last night. He didn't. After breakfast we left to get Dan what he needed. A hotel and a rent-a-car. After an hour or so he had everything he needed. It was 1 in the afternoon. We stood outside of the hotel.  
"I'll text you when I get home, Dan." I smiled and turned to walk back to my car. I felt him grab my arm.  
"Wait!"  
"What?"  
"I'm, um...hungry. Would you like to get some lunch or something?" I grinned.  
"Course!"  
'Lunch' turned out to be Dunkin' Donuts. We ordered and sat at a little table in the back. I got glazed chocolate and Dan got strawberry with sprinkles. And we both ordered coffee. We were the only two in there. It had started to rain. I stared out of the window and watched the rain rhythmically pour down. It was so relaxing. And looked away from the window and caught Dan staring straight at me. He blushed and looked down.  
"You okay there?" I giggled.  
"Tori..."  
"Yeah?"  
"There's something I've been meaning to tell you. It's really important."


	7. Walk With Me, My Dear

A/N: well I tried my best with this chapter, okay. It's kinda short but I'm having intense writers block. Plus I'm highly unmotivated haha. The song for this chapter is "Little Talks" by Of Monsters and Men. Because there's this one lyric 'So hold my hand, I'll walk with you, my dear' and it reminds me of this chapter, you'll see what I mean!(: thanks for reading xx ~L  
************************************

I knitted my brows,  
"What's so important? Is something wrong?" Dan laughed nervously.  
"No, nothing's wrong!"  
"Then what is it? You can tell me anything, Dan."  
"I know but it's just something that's hard to say..." He looked down.  
"Just tell me." He looked up and reached his hands across the table, taking hold of mine. I blushed.  
"Tori...I've...I've..."  
"Dan?"  
"I've liked you for a while now, Tori, ever since VidCon. I thought I had gotten over you but when I saw you tweeted me I got so ecstatic at the thought of being here with you. I really like you Tori." Dan said quickly, in one breath. My heart sped up. Danisnotonfire actually liked ME? Out of all the girls he could probably have? Wait, why am I questioning this?! I know I like him back! I just can't believe this is happening! He gently squeezed my hands.  
"So..." He continued, "I mean...it's okay if you don't like me back..." He half smiled.  
"Dan...I think I like you too." I said with a confident smirk, something I had no idea I could pull off.  
"What?!" Dan grinned. I smiled and leaned forward, standing up. I wrapped my arms around his neck as we hugged across the table. "I can't believe this is happening." His British accent breathed on my neck as we hugged and I felt chills.  
Sitting back into my chair, I laughed,  
"I can't believe you even like me at all!" He looked genuinely shocked.  
"Why wouldn't I like you, Tori?! You're one of the prettiest girls I've ever met!" I blushed and looked down.  
"No I'm not...I'm not pretty at all." I heard Dan's chair scrap across the floor. I looked up and saw him getting up. He rushed over to me and pulled me up into a hug. It was such an intimate and warming hug, I loved it.  
"Listen," Dan said pulling away, "You're so beautiful, Tor, and don't ever doubt that. Okay?" I nodded and he smiled. His eyes lingered on me as we stood in the empty Dunkin' Donuts.  
Dan started to lean down. 'Oh god is he going to kiss me?! Am I ready for this?!' I thought. I felt a million emotions. 'WHAT SHOULD I DO?!' Before I could do anything, it already happened. Dan gently pressed his lips against mine. I could feel my cheeks turning crimson. The kiss was so...sweet. I didn't want it to end, but it did. Dan smiled into the kiss and pulled back. I held back a pout, wanting more.  
"I've been wanting to do that ever since VidCon." Dan grinned, and so did I. This was just...perfect.  
We left Dunkin' Donuts holding hands, our fingers intertwined. We decided to go to the mall and just walk around for a little while. We didn't buy anything, we just enjoyed each others company. After about an hour we sat down at the food court.  
"I'll go order us some smoothies. What kind do you want?" Dan said, standing.  
"Surprise me." He smiled and leaned down, giving me a quick kiss. I felt the familiar butterflies in my stomach that he had a habit of giving me.  
I watched him walk away, smiling to myself. I suddenly heard a shriek,  
"DANISNOTONFIRE!" Out of nowhere, four teenage girls practically tackled Dan. Dan hugged each of the girls and signed a couple of their things. He took some pictures and one even filmed him with her phones camera. After about ten minutes, he was finally freed. Sitting down, he handed me my smoothie.  
"Wow, aren't you famous." He laughed.  
"Eh not really."  
"Oh please, those girls are in love with you."  
"Maayyybe." I smiled.  
"Hey wait a minute, they're probably going to tell someone you're here!" He sighed.  
"Probably."  
"Wait why hasn't Phil or someone tried to contact you?"  
"Well actually... Phil's called 17 times, Pj called 8 times and Chris has called 6 times."  
"What?!"  
"Don't worry! When I get to my hotel room later I'm going to call them. Everything's fine, Tor." I breathed a sigh of relief.  
"We should catch a film." Dan suggested.  
We ended up seeing Zero Dark Thirty. Our fingers were intertwined the entire movie. Halfway through I cuddled into Dans side and rested my head on his shoulder. He rested his head on my forehead. He was so warm. I loved being here with him. I can't believe I'm actually dating Dan. It feels like a dream. I just hope I don't wake up.


	8. Fell For You The First Night

A/N: Picking songs for this was really difficult because so many fit perfectly. So I'm gonna provide a list, and you can choose whichever you like: Scene One - James Dean & Audrey Hepburn by Sleeping With Sirens, Scene Three -Stomach Tied In Knots by Sleeping With Sirens, Young Dumb And In Love by Mat Kearney (this song inspired the title of this chapter), Heregoesnothing by Never Shout Never, and Always by Panic! At The Disco (the P!ATD song may be used for future chapters)..I love all of these songs SO much and you should definitely check them all out!(:

We arrived back at Dan's hotel and it was almost midnight. After the movie, we went out for ice cream. After that, we went to an old school arcade and played games for hours. It was such a fun and lovely night. I parked the car and we sat in silence for a couple of minutes. I didn't know whether or not I should join Dan back at his room.

"So..." Dan said. I had to admit, the silence became awkard.

"Would you care to come inside?" I smiled, thankful that he brought it up instead of me.

"Of course." Dan looked relieved and grinned.

Once in his room, he kicked off his shoes, I did the same.

"Nice socks." Dan smirked.

"Come on, you know you love them!" I had on BMO socks, you know, BMO from Adventure Time. I thought they were cute. Dan laughed.

"You know what? I do." He looked at me. I mean, REALLY looked at me. Looked me up and down. I stood uncomfortably until I remarked,

"Take a picture, it'll last longer." He smirked.

"Why take a picture when I have you here myself?" His chocolatey brown eyes glowed mischievously. Dan suddenly closed the gap between us with a kiss. Even though I was taken back, I quickly composed myself and kissed back. I felt his hands snake around my waist. The kiss deepened as I ran my fingers through the back of his hair, twirling a strand of it. I parted my mouth slightly as the kiss became more forced and passionate. Dan let out a low moan. A laugh built up in my chest and I looked down.

"What?!" Dan chuckled.

"Nothing...I just think you're really cute." He smiled and pecked me on the lips. He kept his hands on my waist and I rested mine on his neck. I was still pressed up against him.

"I'm sorry if that seemed too forced or too sudden. I know we just started dating and all." He looked guilty.

"No, Dan, it's fine. Trust me. I wouldn't have kissed back if I didn't like it!" He looked relieved.

"I was worried I'd scare you away."

"Don't worry, it'll take more than that to scare me away, Mr. Howell." He raised a brow.

"Mr. Howell?"

"Yep!" I reached up and pecked him on the tip of his nose.

"This sudden confidence is so goddamn attractive."

"What? I'm not always attractive?!" I pretended to sound hurt, raising my voice.

"Course you are-" He leaned in for another kiss. I ducked out of the way, escaping his grip on my waist.

"Nope! Enough for now! I need to get home." Dan pouted.

"Why do you have to go home?"

"I don't know, Dan, it's midnight!?" I said sarcastically.

"So?"

"I have to sleep sometime."

"Oh please, we both know you don't sleep."

"What? I sleep!"

"Not at midnight, missy."

"Missy?" Dan smirked.

"What, you can call me Mr. Howell but I can't call you 'missy'?" I giggled.

"Precisely."

"Wait don't go yet, hold on." Dan turned and bent down, rummaging through his bag.

"Look what I brought!" Dan stood up, grinning. He held a black Wii.

"Why did you bring that?"

"Why WOULDN'T I bring this?!"

"Fair enough." I shrugged and smiled.

"Play with me?"

"I...don't know." Dan's eyes widened and he put on the most adorable puppy-dog eyes. He even pouted, I couldn't help but say yes.

"Fine! But just a couple of games!"

'a couple of games' turned into three hours of intense Mario Kart. Yes, MARIO KART. And three hours of it! At first we played silently, sitting crossed legged on Dan's bed. Eventually, we started elbowing each other. Playfully, of course. Four or five times, Dan just dropped the plastic wheel and tickled my sides. Crying out of laughter and pain, I would jump on top of him and playfully punch his shoulders.

In the end, I totally dominated at Mario Kart.

"Wow! I've never met a girl that passionate about Mario Kart!" We had tossed the plastic wheels onto the little velvet chair in the corner of the room, and were just laying on our backs. I stared up at the ceiling and smiled.

"What can I say? I really don't like to lose!" Dan laced our fingers together. I've never been so happy with a boy before, and it was only our first day as a couple. I couldn't wait to see how our relationship furthered to grow.

"I really like you, Tor. Genuinely like you." Dan said softly, almost as a whisper.

"You do?" I said in almost disbelief. Never once has a boy felt this way towards me.

"Very much. I like your smile, your teal hair, your quirky yet adorable personality, the way you always blush, your beanies you wear, your green eyeliner, how you only order a chocolate-vanilla twist with rainbow sprinkles no matter where you get your ice cream..." I felt close to tears. No one has ever said those things to me before. I looked over at our intertwined fingers and squeezed gently.

"You have no idea how much that means to me." And Dan probably never will. He'll probably never know about my ex boyfriend. And how he never told me I was pretty, or funny, or anything. How he cheated on me. How he constantly put me down for not 'putting out'. Dan will never know how much his words touched my heart. His next words surprised me.

"I really hope I figure that out some day." What did that mean? Was he planning on us being together for a long time? I closed my eyes, deciding to just enjoy the gentle silence that was placed upon us.

"You wanna know what else I like about you?" Dan whispered. I smiled, eyes still closed.

"What?"

"HOW TICKLISH YOU ARE!" And with that Dan sat up and started to tickle the hell out of me.

"No stop!" I cried. But we were both laughing hysterically as he continued to tickle me. I start to swat at his hands until he grabbed each of my arms and straddled me. He started to tickle me again while he was on top of me.

"You...know...you...like...it." Dan mutter between laughs.

"So what?!" I cried out. I started swatting again and he grabbed both of my arms and pinned them down. His face was inches away from mine; we stopped laughing and just breathed heavily. We both madly blushed. Dan suddenly realized he was still practically laying on top of me, let go of my arms, and started to get up.

"No-" I whispered and grabbed onto his shirt. We were still heavily breathing as I pulled him back down. He met my lips in a sudden embrace. The kiss instantly became passionate than the one before as we both fed into it. He was propped up on his elbows as I ran my fingers through his hair again. This was the deepest kiss I've probably ever had. It didn't last for very long because we had to gasp for air, but it was still an amazing kiss.

"Wow..." Dan said, still gasping. I smirked.

"What?" Dan asked, still propped on his elbows...still on top of me.

"I don't know...I just think this is perfect." Dan smiled.

"It is." He leaned down and pecked me on the lips before getting up off of me. You could tell by the look on his face that it took everything for him to stop and get up. I held back a pout, not wanting what just happened to end. But of course, it did. He sat on the bed, facing the wall. I sat up next to him and laid my head on his shoulder.

"You're a really good kisser." I said without thinking. When I did I was suddenly embarrassed. But Dan just smiled.

"You too." He snaked his arm around my back and rubbed my arm up and down, gently and lovingly.

"You know what's strange?" Dan suddenly piped.

"What?" I said, closing my eyes, suddenly relaxed from Dan's hand rubbing my arm.

"We've started dating today...but I feel like we've been dating forever. I know that sounds weird, but that's what it feels like." Dan was whispering in the cutest sleepy voice, looking down at his free hand resting on his lap.

"I know what you mean, Dan."

"You do?"

"Yep. It's awesome."

"Oh trust me, it's definitely awesome."

"Dan...?" I said after a couple minutes of silence.

"Mhmm?"

"Thanks for not pressuring me tonight...I hope you know what I mean. Thanks for being a gentlemen and knowing when to stop." He thought for a moment.

"Of course I wouldn't do anything like that, Tori. I mean, I was nervous as hell just inviting you up here! I never had any of those intentions though." I smiled, knowing I found someone really special. YouTube had done so many amazing things for me, but finding Dan has been one of the best perks.

"But...that doesn't mean I want you to leave..." I felt my stomach tie in knots, in a good way.

"I have to, eventually. You know that."

"Mhmm I know." A few more minutes of silence.

"Since you're fixed on leaving, at least take one of my shirts to wear tonight." I smiled.

"Of course, even though that's like the cheesiest thing ever!" I laughed.

"Is not!" Dan said, pretending to be hurt. I got up off the bed, walked over to slip my shoes on, and put on my beanie (which had long been tossed on the floor). I saw Dan rummage through his luggage and pull out a t-shirt.

"Here ya go." He said walking over, handing me the shirt.

"Thanks."

"No problem, it's just a shirt."

"No, I mean thanks for the perfect first date."

"No problem, Tor." He leaned down and gave me a sweet kiss before I left. I smiled to myself the entire way home.


	9. Stop The Worrying

A/N: Not much to say, really. Next chapter might be a little flashback ;) Song for this chapter: Feel Good Inc by The Gorillaz. This song is just amazing and I think you guys should check out the band ^_^

I closed the door behind me as quietly as I could. I started to tiptoe to my room when I heard a cough. I jumped back. Ari jumped up off the couch and walked over to me.  
"So...you're finally home." She said in monotone.  
"I'm so sorry I've been out this long, Ari." Ari folded her arms across her chest.  
"Tori, it's almost four in the freakin morning! I texted and called you like a million times!" Ari said raising her voice, "You said you'd be home like around dinner time! I was worried sick, okay!"  
"I'm sorry! I haven't checked my phone in a couple hours! I'm really sorry, Ar."  
"I thought something might've happened to you, like you were kidnapped by Dan or something."  
"What?! Why would he do that?" Ari sighed and dropped her hands to her side.  
"I don't know, Tor. I was just worried. But I guess I'm glad you made it home safe. You better have a pretty good explanation as to why you stayed out so late!" I couldn't help but smile when I thought of Dan.  
"As a matter of fact, I DO have a really good reason."  
"What?"  
"I'm dating Dan now." Ari's jaw dropped.  
"You have to tell me everything!" She raced over to me and grabbed my arm, pulling me over to sit on the couch.  
I told Ari, well, pretty much everything. She listened intently and didn't interrupt.  
I finished with, "I know it sounds really crazy...but I think I'm starting to fall in love."  
"We'll isn't that the darnedest thing." She pretended to wipe away a fake tear.  
"Shut up!" She giggled.  
"No, for real, I think you guys are so freakin cute together!" I blushed. "But I don't think you're starting to fall in love or anything..."  
"What do you mean?"  
"Oh, I don't know. You've just started dating TODAY." Ari said sarcastically.  
"Well technically YESTERDAY." Ari sighed and laughed.  
"Alright well as strange as it seems, I'm exhausted and going to bed."  
"Night." She gave me a quick hug and a 'nice going with Dan', a wink and then walked back to her room.  
I got up and walked over to my room. One inside I closed the door and tossed my beanie on my dresser. I held Dan's shirt in my hands. It was a plain dark blue t shirt. I held it up to my nose and inhaled. It had the faint smell of Dan's cologne. It smelled of Dan and I just loved it. To my delight, Dans shirt was just big enough so I could wear only that to bed. I grabbed my laptop and slipped into bed. I checked my twitter and replied to some fans. My fans were used to my abnormal sleeping habits so I usually replied late at night anyway. By then, Dans scent carried its way to my nostrils and I felt like he was here with me. Remembering all of Ari's calls, I checked my phone. Holy crap. 21 new calls and 38 new text messages. Most of the messages were pretty much 'WHERE R U PICK UP UR PHONE' I smiled. Then I got a new text. It was from Chris, or Crabstickz on YouTube. He's a British YouTuber who's friends with Dan. Surprisingly, Chris and I are actually quite good friends. He came to Florida once and we spent the day together at Disney World. I loved Chris, he was such a good friend. And really funny too. He was always there for me when I was having a bad day and needed some cheering up. I read Chris' text:  
"I know you're up, babe. I see you replying to people!" I smiled.  
"Stalker! And why are YOU up, mister?" I replied.  
"Mayyybbee I am, mayyybbee I'm not. And it's like 9 in the morning here, dummy."  
"Oh no, you definitely are, Chris!(: and oh right, I forgot."  
"So I have a lot on my mind :'(((" I laughed.  
"Like what?"  
"I don't know...Dan." I felt my stomach twist, and this time in a bad way.  
"What about him?"  
"We're all worried sick about him. Phil found a note Dan left. It said crap about getting away and that he'd call us soon. He hasn't been online in like two days." This is the first time Chris has been really serious about something. Oh god, Dan forgot to talk to Phil when he got back to his hotel.  
"I'm sure he's okay. Don't worry too much about it."  
"You know what I think? I think he's sneaking around somewhere with Beth. I think he missed her being away and he went to be with her. I mean, what other girl would he travel like that for?" Suddenly hurt, I lowered my phone. Dan wasn't with his stupid ex, he was with ME. Were they really that serious? So serious that Chris thinks he'd sneak off with her? I suddenly felt sick. Knowing that Dan WAS sneaking around, but with me. I felt like I was keeping some huge stupid secret that was just worrying everyone. I wanted so badly to correct Chris. But instead,  
"I don't feel really good, sorry Chris. I think I'm going to go to bed. Goodnight3"  
"Are you alright? Nighty night then, babe 3"  
I pulled my covers up to my neck. I closed my eyes and heard a little "buzz buzz" someone texted me. I unlocked my phone and saw that Dan had texted me. I smiled instantly, forgetting all of his sneaking around for a moment.  
"Hey Tor. I just wanted to let you know that our first date was perfect. It was the best first date in the history of first dates ;) I hope you get this before you go to bed. I just can't believe how lucky I am to be with you. You already make me so happy. And I don't want you to worry at all about my friends or they're worrying. Tomorrow I'm going to straighten everything out, no need to fuss over anything. And I was wondering if you'd like to come over tomorrow around noon and we can go out for lunch? Does that sound good? xx"  
Everything about that made me feel tingly inside. How perfect he thought our date was, how genuinely happy he was to be with me, how he promised to fix everything to stop me from worrying.  
"I'm so happy to be with you too, Dan. You have no idea. And I'm glad you're going to straighten everything out. Chris just texted me worrying about you :/ and yes, tomorrow at noon sounds wonderful!"  
"Chris texted you? Oh I forgot you guys were good friends. Well, again, don't worry about it. I can't wait to see you tomorrow, night3"  
"Goodnight3" Smiling, I put my phone down.  
I suddenly felt so much better. I was so relieved. And I'm so happy to know Dan has true feelings for me. It's just amazing. I drifted off to sleeping thinking of Dan...

***  
I woke up and stretched my arms. I instantly opened my laptop, still sleepy, to check my social networks. I reblogged some stuff on Tumblr, replied to some comments on my recent video, replied to some people on Twitter, and then just watched some YouTube videos that were in my subscription box. Typical morning. And then I checked my phone. I was delighted to see a text from Dan.  
"Good morning3" I smiled and replied. Then, I rolled out of bed and walked into the living room. It was around 10 and like any other Saturday morning. Ari was in the shower so I decided to start making breakfast.  
After her shower, Ari quickly got dressed and joined me at the bar. I made us some yummy pancakes, like every Saturday. When Ari saw me she had to do a double take.  
"Is that...Dans shirt?" I blushed and nodded. She smiled.  
"Aww cute."  
After breakfast we settled on the couch and watched some cartoons, yet ANOTHER Saturday morning tradition. Jeez, we had so many of them.  
"So I need to go to the mall today to get a couple of things for an outfit video." Ari piped.  
"That's fine, I'm having lunch with Dan anyway."  
"How long is he planning on staying here?"  
"I have no idea." Ari nodded and focused back on the cartoon. I made a mental note to ask him later how long he planned to stay. Ever since he first kissed me I've dreaded having to bring up the "long distance relationship" talk.  
Realizing I had to meet Dan soon, I got up off the couch and walked back to my room. I decided to skip a shower, since I really didn't need one. I thought of what outfit I should wear, then decided to just wear Dans dark blue shirt and a pair of black skinny jeans. It looked quite cute, I must admit. I paired the outfit with black studded combat boots. I straightened my hair, brushed my teeth, applied some makeup, and put on my black NEFF beanie. When I was satisfied I called out "GOODBYE!" at Ari's door and left.  
I reached Dan's hotel in no time. Dan gave me a spare card to get into his room. I opened his door saying,  
"Dan, it's Tori. I'm wearing your shirt I hope you don't-" I stopped dead in my tracks, door still wide open, when I noticed Dan was on his bed skyping with Phil. He turned and looked at me for a second before turning back to Phil, who was obviously bewildered.  
"Your shirt?!" Phil sounded hoarse.  
"Don't worry, Phil. Nothing like that happened!" I blushed and looked down at my hands.  
"Well we're just about finished talking anyway, so I'll text you later." Dan said quickly. Phil still had his jaw dropped. But he nodded and went,  
"I...uh...alright. H-Hi Tori." I gave Phil a slight wave and said hello.  
Dan exited the skype call.  
"Oh Dan, I'm SO sorry. I had no idea-"  
"No it's not your fault, and we were done talking anyway." Dan slid off his bed and walked over to me.  
"Wow...this shirt looks so cute on you." Dan embraced me in a hug. I snuggled into his chest.  
"I hope you don't mind that I'm wearing it today."  
"No of course I don't mind." Dan gave me a quick kiss before pulling out of the hug and grabbing his wallet off the bed.  
"Shall we?" He smirked.  
"We shall." I smirked back and intertwined our fingers. We left the hotel room and went back to my car.  
"So where are we off to?" Dan asked once settled into the passenger seat.  
"Where do you want to go?"  
"Well I'm hungry so I'm thinking lunch." Dan said sarcastically  
"I know THAT, silly." Dan laughed.  
"Okay, suggest a place." I thought a moment before making up my mind.  
I decided to take Dan to Bamboo Bar & Grill, a place I enjoyed eating at from time to time.  
As we drove, I decided to fill the silence.  
"So, what happened with Phil?"  
"Oh he practically yelled at me and called me a horrible person for making him worry like that." Dan laughed, "He said he was going to call Pj and Chris and tell them I'm here, and for them to stop worrying."  
"So they finally know you're not with Beth anymore, huh?" Dan sighed.  
"Yeah. And I already apologized to my danosaurs and told them I was here for personal reasons. They probably still think I'm with Beth because I told Phil to not tell the general public." I slowly nodded. I wondered how long until Dan announced us as a couple. I yet again felt like I was sneaking around, and I didn't like it. But I just ignored my thoughts and focused on the road.  
I was driving with just my left hand since I'm left handed, so Dan took the opportunity to hold my right hand and lace our fingers. He squeezed gently and continued,  
"Luckily I filmed and completely edited an entire video before I came here, so there's nothing for them to complain about after all."  
"Wow I can't believe you actually did that, considering you're such a huge procrastinator."  
"Oh trust me, it was terrible. But it had to be done, I guess."  
We arrived at the restaurant and took our seats. We made general conversation, not really dwelling on our relationship or anything.  
"That was really good." Dan said as we left.  
"Mhmm." I said, starting up my car.  
"Where to next?" Dan asked.  
"Hmm...want to go to Sea World?"  
"Sea World? Really? We can just up and go to Sea World?" I laughed,  
"I don't know, I guess so." Dan clapped his hands together.  
"Alrighty then."  
"I just need to go home first and get a couple of things."  
"I didn't bring a suit."  
"I'll drop you off a your hotel and when I'm getting what I need, you can drive to Walmart and get a bathing suit."  
"Sounds like a plan." Dan smiled and leaned over, giving me a quick peck on the cheek. I smiled to myself as I pulled out of the restaurant parking lot. But I couldn't stop thinking about how Dan never even told me what happened between him and Beth...it saddened me.


	10. She's Such A Trick

Song for this chapter: That Girl by All Time Low

*flashback*

*Bethany's POV*  
"Babe can you hurry up!?" I called out to Dan, who was fumbling around in the bathroom frantically trying to straighten his hair.  
"It's not my fault you showed up out of the blue!" He called back to me.  
"I'm hungry!" I whined and sunk further into his couch.  
"Almost done...there!" He kicked the door open and walked out, ruffling his hair a bit.  
"Finally!" I huffed and jumped up.  
"Oh hush." He said, grabbing his wallet off the counter.  
"Come on!" I grabbed his hand and pulled him to the door.  
"Can I at least have a hello kiss?" He whined. I rolled my eyes and turned around, pecking him quickly on the lips. He smiled.  
"Now can we leave?" I asked sweetly, annoyance tinting my voice. He nodded and we left.  
Dan and I...we weren't right for each other. Plain and simple. I'm not sure why we were even still together after 7 months. Wasted time, if you ask me. But little did he know, I had a secret.  
We went to Starbucks and Dan ordered my usual drink.  
"Are you doing a live show tonight?" I asked as he sat down.  
"Yes, just like every other Tuesday night, Beth." I rolled my eyes.  
"Well I want to be in it."  
"You're always in it, babe."  
"I know." I smiled and sipped my coffee. Dan just looked down and twirled his thumbs. I didn't acknowledge it and let him be.  
After our mini date at Starbucks I told him I had to meet my friend at the mall.  
"Alright, see you later." He leaned down and kissed me. I clenched my fists and barely kissed back.

But I didn't go to the mall. I went to Jeremy's apartment. I've been seeing Jeremy secretly for the past three months. I wanted to leave Dan for Jeremy...but I couldn't. The only reason I started dating Dan in the first place was for his YouTube success. At first we had a lot of fun and I almost forgot why I was with him. He loved me a lot, and constantly told me. I lied when I said I loved him back. I knew I was hurting him, but I didn't care.  
"Hey babe!" I said excitedly when I reached Jeremy's. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him tenderly.  
"Come on in..." Jeremy said quietly and shut the door behind me.

*hours later*  
I made it back just in time for Dan's live show. His fans absolutely adored me. They said we were the perfect couple. They were probably the main reason we were still together. They fit perfectly into my plan.  
"Ready?" Dan said, throwing on a jumper to cover his naked torso over a pair of black jeans. He had just gotten a shower.  
"As always." I said, quickly fixing my long dark black hair. Dyed, of course.  
Dan grabbed his laptop and plopped down on the couch. I sat next to him, practically on his lap. I throw my arms around his neck and cuddled into his side as the show started.  
"Here we go!" Dan said in Mario's voice. I held back rolling my eyes.  
"Hey guys!" I gushed into the webcam.  
After the first half hour of the live show, Dan left to get a drink of water. I took over, which I loved doing.  
"So, aren't we just adorable?" I said affectionally.  
The chat filled with "You guys are so perfect!", "Wish I had what you had3", and "Danthany Forever!"  
I smiled a devilish smile. As long as they loved me, Dan would keep me around. Dan could obviously see our relationship wasn't much anymore. We barely held hands, barely kissed, barely did anything else...um...physical. Even I'M not completely sure what my motives were for dating him. But the biggest perk was definitely his fans. They loved me and cherished me. They helped me out and were basically my little slaves. I had an amazing amount of twitter followers and they begged me to start my own YouTube channel. With Dan's idiotic fans I could become really successful. 'Soon. I'll start one soon.' I mentally reminded myself.  
I further talked about our "perfect" relationship when Dan walked back over. He put his arm around my shoulders and kissed me on the cheek. The chat filled with "Awww!" and I smirked.  
When the live show ended, I quickly wriggled out of Dan's arms. He looked disappointed but said nothing.  
"Babe I gotta go, um, to my friends." Dan NEVER asked who my "friend" was I always referred to, but this time he did.  
"Who is that, exactly?"  
"Just a friend."  
"Yeah I know 'just a friend'. What's her name?"  
"Jessica." Jeremy, Jessica, pretty close?  
"I've never heard of her or met her." I put my hands on my hips.  
"So? You're not the boss of me. You can't tell me who I can and can't talk to."  
"I wasn't. I was just asking about her."  
"Well don't." I huffed and yanked my purse off the kitchen counter.  
"Wait, Beth!" Dan said, jumping up.  
"What?!" I practically screamed.  
"It's just...you haven't spent the night in forever. I miss you."  
"Miss me? You see me all of the time."  
"But we never talk anymore, or do much of anything." His eyes shone.  
"We're talking right now." I smirked and walked over to the door.  
"Look, call me tomorrow and we'll do lunch?" I blew him a kiss and opened the door.  
"Beth, you know I love you, right?" I pretended not to hear him and walked out the door, leaving him confused and angry.

*Dan's POV*  
"Bitch." I muttered after she slammed the door. I couldn't believe this. I knew out relationship was crumbling by the minute, but I wanted to make it work. Why was she making it so hard for me to do that?  
Phil was doing some work at the BBC and wouldn't be home till later. So without thinking, I grabbed my car keys and ran out the door.  
"I need to find her." I said to myself, starting up the car.  
Sure enough, I quickly spotted Bethany's car. I decided to follow her to see who this "Jessica" was. To be honest, I was scared to death that she was cheating on me. I've been suspicious for about a month but I've never said anything. I started being suspicious when I smelled male cologne on her jacket. It wasn't mine. And Bethany was always out. She never tells me where she goes, she just says she's going to her "friend's" place.  
I plain old didn't trust her, which is horrible to say. I thought she was my first real love...but I don't know. She's lying to me, I know it. I've put on a happy face for so fucking long and I can't do this anymore. I need to know for sure.  
I followed her car for about ten minutes until she pulled into an apartment complex I didn't recognize. She parked and got out of her car. I quickly got out and followed her, making sure she didn't see me.  
She got on the elevator.  
"Shit." She can't see me. Frantically, I raced up the stars and hid behind a plant.  
"There she is." I whispered to myself as she strolled over to a door, knocked, and walked in.  
I decided to wait for ten minutes. In case she was cheating on me, it'd give them plenty of time to get into the process of, um, cheating.  
Gathering up all of the courage I could manage, I walked straight up to the door she went through. I pounded five times and pressed my ear against the door. I heard voices. I couldn't tell if they were male or female. I pounded five more times. Suddenly the door flew open.  
"Dude what the hell is your problem?!" The color drained from my face when a guy stood before me...with no shirt on. I peered over his shoulder...and there she was. Beth was gingerly laid out on the couch. With less clothes on than when she arrived. "Who's there, baby?" Beth called out. That was all I needed to hear.  
"My problem?!" I shouted at the man.  
"YOU'RE MY FUCKING PROBLEM!" I swung my right fist at the man and hooked his jaw, knocking him down.  
"Oof-!" Beth screamed and scrambled over to us. She was wide eyed when she saw me. She knelt down beside the man, who was still struggling to get up.  
"Dan?!"  
"How could you do this to me Beth!?"  
"Dan calm down!"  
"Calm down?! CALM DOWN?! Beth you're fucking cheating on me!"  
"Look, dude, get out of here!" The man spat at me when he got up.  
"I will! You deserve this cheating bitch!"  
"Wait we're done?!" Beth sounded hoarse.  
"Of course we are! I never want to see you again!" I spun on my heels and ran down the steps, going as fast as I could. I raced to my car and slammed the door shut.  
Once alone in my car I completely broke down. Tears streamed down my face and I was screaming at nothing.  
"How did I ever fall in love with that?!" I yelled and covered my face in my hands.

*end of flashback*

*Dan's POV*  
"Sounds like a plan." I smiled and gave Tori a quick kiss on the cheek.  
She looked sad as she pulled out of the parking lot but I didn't say anything.  
I hummed to myself as we drove and stared out the window.  
I wondered if I'd ever tell Tor what happened between me and Bethany. I knew she wanted to know but I haven't told her. I quickly thought of Bethany's face and how distraught she looked when I walked in on her cheating on me. She looked confused, like it wasn't going according to her plan or something. I shivered the thought away.  
"You cold?" Tori chimed and I grinned to myself. Her voice...was just perfect.  
"What?" She laughed and I shook my head.  
"Nothing. I was just thinking of how happy I am to be here with you." She blushed and focused on the road.  
After she dropped me off at the hotel, I drove over to Walmart. I browsed for swimming costumes until someone poked my shoulder. I jumped and turned around.  
"You scared me!" I laughed and smiled at the teenage girl standing before me.  
"It's actually you..." She said in awe.  
"Ah yes, a wild subscriber appears." She laughed and grinned.  
"Wait-" She dug in her bag and pulled out her danisnotonfire shirt.  
"My friend just gave it to me for my birthday like thirty minutes ago!" She said excitedly.  
"Well happy birthday...um?"  
"Kylie."  
"Happy birthday, Kylie." I smiled as I signed the shirt.  
"Thank you so much!" She reached in for a hug and I put my arms around her.  
"You literally just made my life!" She looked close to tears.  
"You mean, lit-trah-lee." We both laughed.  
"Why are you here in America? Is Beth with you?" I looked down and shook my head.  
"I'm here for personal reasons. Bethany...isn't here."  
"That's a shame! You guys are SO cute together by the way! When you see her, can you tell her I said hi and that she's amazing?"  
"Sure." I lied.  
"Thanks! And it was so cool meeting you!"  
"Same with you, Kylie." She grinned and wandered away.  
I can't do this anymore. I can't lie to my fans anymore. I hate Bethany and I never want to see her again. Without thinking, I pulled out my phone and tweeted:  
"Can't wait to spend the rest of the day with this special little lady ;) LittleMsTori 3" I smiled to myself and slid my phone back into my pocket.

*Tori's POV*  
When I got back to my apartment, I was SO relieved to see Ari was home.  
"HELP!" I yelled when I walked through the door.  
"What?!" Ari ran into the living room,  
"Are you okay?!" She looked worried.  
"No!"  
"What's wrong?!"  
"I'm going to Sea World with Dan and I don't know what to wear!"  
"Jesus." Ari muttered and folded her arms across her chest.  
I laughed and pulled her into my room.  
"Just help me choose what to wear."  
"Uh, I don't know. Maybe wear a bathing suit?"  
"God I know that. Which one?"  
After about twenty minutes of debating and trying each on, we finally decided on one.  
I chose a magenta bikini. The top part had a really cute bow on the front. It also made me look really good, so I loved it! (The bikini: bennett_bow_swimwear/thing?id=57542540)  
"You look so cute!" Ari gushed when I tried it on. I smiled and nodded.  
"This one. I definitely choose this one."  
"Dan's a lucky guy!" Ari winked. I laughed and blushed.  
"Okay now we just have to choose what you wear over it." Ari said, walking over to my closet.  
"Here!" She tossed me my Sperry coverup. It was so adorable, with blue stripes and a golden anchor on the front. The gold would look perfect with the magenta. (Coverup: sperry_top-sider_maiden_voyage_cover/thing?id=76303264)  
"Yes!" I shouted excitedly.  
"Shoeessss." Ari said as she dug through my various flipflops.  
"These will look great with your coverup." She tossed the flipflops at me. They were gold.  
"Perfect." I nodded.  
"And you're going to take your tribal purse...and these sunglasses." She handed me black aviator glasses.  
"They're sexy, okay?" She said and I giggled.  
"I think that's all." Ari smiled.  
After changing I looked at myself in the mirror in the bathroom. My magenta suit looked perfect paired with the coverup. I had my hair done in a side fishtail braid. The teal in my hair strangely went very well with the magenta and gold. I smiled and slid on my aviator glasses and put my flip flops on.  
"Later! And thanks." I called out to Ari and she gave me a thumbs up. I laughed and walked out the door.  
I drove over to Dan's apartment when my phone chimed. I looked and it was a twitter notification. The tweet was from Dan.  
"Can't wait to spend the rest of the day with this special little lady ;) LittleMsTori 3"  
I frowned. It was a sweet tweet, but did why did he tweet it? Was he trying to make our relationship public? Confused, I shook my head. 'He's just being sweet, nothing to worry about.' I thought. Then I replied.  
" danisnotonfire Heading over now! Can't wait for you to see my swimsuit :) 3" I sighed. Well, it's about time people starting finding out about us.

*Dan's POV*  
I quickly threw on my new black swimming costume and my black toms. Eh, I figured I could hold my toms when I got wet. I also pulled on a dark purple t-shirt and sat on my bed. I checked twitter, purposely ignoring my mentions, and went to Tori's twitter to see if she replied. I grinned when I saw she did. I felt so relieved and glad that she was okay with me tweeting that. I replied,  
" LittleMsTori shaking with anticipation haha bet you look amazing." Send. I closed the app without checking my mentions. To be honest, I was afraid of what my danosaurs were saying to me right now. They were probably freaking out. And I couldn't deal with it right now.  
I went on Tumblr until Tori showed up.  
"Hey." She called out and shut the door behind her.  
I jumped of my bed and looked at her. My jaw dropped. She looked amazing. Her swimming costume under her coverup looked perfect and her legs...man her legs.  
"Wow...you look beautiful." She blushed and walked over to me.  
"Thank-" I cut her off with a kiss. A low moan escaped her lips and I smirked.  
"Lets get out of here." I whispered and kissed her cheek. She smiled and intertwined our fingers. And for the first time all day, I stopped thinking about Bethany.


	11. Let's Make This Happen

Song for this chapter: Something Good Can Work by Two Door Cinema Club (if you haven't guessed, most titles for chapters are song lyrics from the song I chose for that chapter ^_^)

A/N: Wow! Thanks for the number of reads!

•••

*Tori's POV*

Spending the day at Sea World was so much fun! I haven't been there since high school when we went on a school trip. I didn't have much fun, though, because I was very self conscious about wearing a bikini in front of my peers. I've always had a tiny frame, but I still never felt pretty compared to the other girls.

Plus, I felt so comfortable around Dan. I didn't care that much about how I looked, he told me I was beautiful no matter what and I felt so special. We went on about every ride, and it was seriously the best day.

We went on roller coasters, even though I was petrified of going on. I was so proud of myself that I went on them. And we went on a lot of rides in general.

We went to some shows. The Shamu show was amazing. We ate popcorn and churros and cotton candy. We went to an aquarium inside the theme park. And we held hands for about 95% of the time. It was pretty crowded, but we didn't care that much.

I know it was really sudden, but I'm falling for Dan. Hard. I'm not exactly sure how I feel. Was this the start of love? I had no idea, but I did know that I wanted to relive this day every day.

We stayed until 7pm when SeaWorld closed.

On the car ride back, we decided to stop for some ice cream. I found this small local place with benches outside. After ordering, we sat down outside. The sun was setting, and the sky was a mix of dark oranges and pinks and indigos. It was beautiful.

"The sky's really pretty." I said quietly.

"Mhmm." Dan nodded and snaked his arm across my shoulders.

"How long are you staying here?" I blurted out. It's been on my mind all day and I couldn't take it anymore.

Dan's arm tightened its grip on my shoulders.

"Well, um...I don't know. Originally, I only wanted to stay for about a week. To, you know, clear my head... But now? I don't know. I wasn't expecting this to happen."

"What to happen?"

"Us." Dan said quietly and pulled me closer to his body. I blushed and nodded.

"I really don't want to leave," he continued, "but I live in London and you live here..."

"We can make a long distance relationship work, Dan. We can text and call each other and Skype every night." I said quickly.

"Mhmm." Dan sighed.

"Let's not fuss about it right now." He said quietly. I nodded and plopped a spoonful of chocolate ice cream onto my tongue.

I chatted along, talking about all kinds of random things. I'm a very random person if I want to be. Most of our conversations were carried on by me, while Dan nodded and laughed here and there. He didn't like to talk too much but I was happy to chat along anyway.

We got up to toss our cups into the trash. I pulled my hair out of it's messy braid and shook it out. It fell in loose waves. Dan took my hand and we headed back to my car. He got in and I was about to slide into the drivers seat when my phone rang.

"One sec." I said to Dan, shut the car door, and leaned my side against it. I took my phone out of my little tribal purse.

"Hello?"

"Hey girly!" Ari's sing-song cheery voice made me smile.

"What's up?"

"It's, uh, really short notice, but I'm not home right now."

"Hm?"

"Yeah. You know Chelsea right?" Chelsea was Ari's friend from high school. I barely knew her because she moved across the country shortly after I became good friends with Ari. She visits Florida occasionally and they always hang out.

"Obviously." I laughed.

"Well she called me saying she's here and we actually went out to dinner together. It was really nice seeing her."

"If you're still at dinner, that's fine."

"No, I'm not. But at dinner we were talking about my channel and blah blah blah. And anyway, she's good friends with a make up artist and asked if I wanted to meet her. Turns out, the make up artist is actually one of my inspirations. I have so many, you probably don't remember her name. But anyway, she lives on, like, the other side of Florida so I'm staying here overnight." I processed what she was saying.

"Yeah it's fine."

"Oh Tori, thanks! I'm such a terrible friend. We're in the car on the way there and I didn't even think to tell you." I shrugged, even though she couldn't see me.

"Yeah it's fine." I repeated.

"Plus, you'll have the appartment all to yourself." She said quietly, I could almost hear her smirking. I know what she's referring to. Dan. I blushed and laughed.

"Have fun, okay?" I said rolling my eyes.

"You too!" She laughed and hung up.

Smiling to myself, I got in the car.

"Who was that?" Dan asked, then quickly said, "it's none of my business, sorry." I gently squeezed his hand.

"No, it's okay. That was Ari. She's spending the night at her friends."

"Oh."

"I have the whole apartment to myself." I said quietly, almost as a whisper.

"Oh." He repeated. I sensed something in his voice but I couldn't figure out what. Nervousness? Excitement? Confusion? I had no idea.

"Want to, um, come back to my place then?"

"I don't see why the hell not." Dan smiled as I started up the car.

I shut the door behind me and slipped off my flip flops, picked them up and tossed them out of the way.

We had actually gone back to Dan's hotel room real quick so he could change. I stayed in the car and when he got back in I noticed he brought a spare shirt with him along with a tiny bag of toiletries. Suddenly I felt kind of sick, but I shivered away the feeling. 'It's okay,' I reminded myself. 'It's only Dan. Nothing to be scared of..'

"Hey I'm gonna go change real quick. Make yourself comfortable." I said. Dan smiled his dimpled and adorable smile and collapsed on the couch.

Once inside my room I tossed my coverup on my bed and peeled off my bikini, tossing it into the tiny hamper next to the door. I rummaged through my drawers and sighed. What should I wear? Oh look, it's my usual insecure self debating over the stupidest thing. I sat a moment on my bed and noticed Dan's dark blue shirt bunched up next to my dressed. I still had it. Smiling, I pulled the shirt. "Shit." I quickly ripped it off and threw on a bra. THEN, I pulled the shirt back on. Laughing to myself, I debated putting a pair of sweatpants on. Like I said earlier, the shirt did cover mostly everything. It curved over my butt and went almost halfway down my thighs. For the first time in a while, I was grateful for being so tiny. Eh, it's enough.

Giddy with nervous excitement, I walked, almost skipped, back out to Dan. He wasn't in the living room but in the kitchen. He turned around when he heard me. He was holding a bottle of wine. He looked a little stunned when he saw what I was wearing but the look quickly disappeared from his face.

"You drink?" He asked, tilting the bottle, looking to see what brand it was.

"No," I leaned against the counter. "I mean, not usually. But I drink with Ari occasionally, or when we have guests over or something." He made the 'Not Bad' face and I laughed. He smirked, his eyes mischievous.

"Well, I think we should cheers..to us." I smiled and took out two wine glasses from a cupboard. I watched as he poured our glasses. I felt nervous and ecstatic. I toyed with the hem of my shirt. I took my glass and was about to sip when Dan went, "Not ah ah. I want to make a toast." I rolled my eyes and laughed.

"I just want to thank you for the amazing past couple days," I smiled. He continues, "You're the reason my heart beats, Tor," He started fake crying. I suppressed a grin. "And...I...I just...Don't know what I'd do...without you..." He smirked and pretended to wipe away a tear.

"Shut up." I laughed and stood on my tippy toes, giving him a quick kiss. He shrugged, "Eh, close enough to how I feel." We clinked our glasses together and took a sip of our wine.

"Mm." I smiled and took his hand, leading him back to the couch. And we sat down together. We talked for a good hour or so. By then we were on our second glass. I stopped drinking after that, definitely not wanting to get drunk I'm front of him. He poured himself a third, however.

We continued talking until he finished his glass.

"Enough for me." He said and put his glass on the coffee table next in front of the couch. He looked at me and our eyes locked. I hesitantly scooted closer to him until there was barely any space between us.

Slowly, he lifted his hand to my cheek, his fingers caressing the space under my ear. He gently pulled me in for a kiss, keeping his hand on my cheek. The kiss was gentle and sweet. We pulled away and smiled. Then his fingers found their way to the back of my neck. He pulled me in again. This kiss was similar to the first, except it had more hunger. Our mouths fit perfectly together, and I parted my lips. He deepened the kiss while I let out a gentle sigh. I tilted my head slightly and his hand moved down to my shoulder blades. His other hand rested against the couch.

I brought my own hands to his shoulders and moved them further until my fingers were intertwined around his neck. I pulled him in deeper. Gently, his hand moved to my lower back. The nervous electricity between us made me want to scream from excitement. His free hand joined his other on the small of my back. I melted inside. Then we both pulled away slightly, resting our foreheads on each others and breathing in the air we lost from the long kiss.

"...wow..." Dan whispered.

We stayed on the couch kissing for about a half hour until I slowly got up. I took Dan's hand and lead him to my bedroom. 'Oh god oh god oh god' I thought as my heart pounded in my ears.

Dan closed the door behind him.

"So this is your room, huh?" Dan looked around then smiled at me.

"Yes." I said quietly and guided him over to my bed. We sat down on the foot of the bed. Dan quickly pulled me in for a kiss. I wrapped my arms around his neck and parted my lips for him. He grabbed my waist and pulled me onto his lap, not breaking the kiss. I brought my hands up to his checks and brought him in deeper.

I had never kissed someone with so much passion before but I wasn't embarrassed. Surprisingly.

"Do you-" Dan said quickly. I gave him quick light kisses on his jawline as he continued. "Do you...really, uh, want to...tonight?" I knew what he was asking so I pulled back a little. We looked each other in the eye. I expected his eyes to be wild, but they weren't. They were dark and still. Peaceful.

"Dan." I didn't know what else to say. He half smiled.

"It's okay if you're not, uh, ready." He said quietly.

"Are you?"

"Yes." He's cheeks turned crimson.

"I mean-" he started but I cut him off.

"No, it's okay what you said." I felt his hands on my waist and I suddenly felt self conscious again.

"Want to sleep with me?" I asked suddenly.

"...What?" Dan's eyes widened.

"I said, do. you. want. to. sleep. with. me?"

"What?" He repeated it.

"Do you want to lay down in bed and fall asleep with me?" Dan laughed and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Of course."

I excitedly rolled into bed while Dan pulled off his shirt and tossed it on the ground. Wearing only black sweatpants, he crawled in next to me. I hesitantly placed my hands on his bare chest. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me closer. He kissed my forehead right between my eyes.

"Ya know," he said. "It's awfully early for us night owls to be sleeping."

"I agree. What should we do about it?"

"Hmm, I know something we can do." He tilted his head and brushed his lips against mine. Butterflies filled my stomach as I realized how intimately close we were.

We lay in the same position for a while, just kissing and talking. He told me about his childhood, I told him about mine. We had already talked a lot about our channels, but we talked about YouTube anyway. We talked about London, and Florida. Our friends, our family. And after a couple hours, I felt like I knew him better than I ever imagined I would.

I started to doze off so Dan flattened out on his back and pulled me even closer. I rested my head on his chest and wrapped my arms gently around him. I heard the steady thump-thump of his heart and it relaxed me. I felt his hands on my lower back and smiled.

"Night, Tor." I heard before I fell asleep. It reminded me of the first night, the first time I fell asleep laying against him. Thump-thump thump-thump-thump thump-thump.

"Night, Dan..."


	12. Stained Glass Eyes & Colorful Tears

Song for this chapter: Stained Glass Eyes and Colorful Tears by Pierce The Veil  
A/N: So yeah I decided to mix it up and include some YouTubers in this chapter. Hailedabear, MattG124, and Deefizzy. Whoop ^_^ and to avoid confusion, Tori currently does have teal tips. I read over some older chapters and realized I never made that clear. Thanks for reading, your comments are so lovely! Thanks so much! I wish I knew how to reply on this website lol :D 3

•••

*Dan's POV*  
I woke to the sound of birds chirping outside.  
"Mmmm." I moaned, opening my eyes. I sleepily looked down and saw her. I smiled. Her hair was thrown messily in all directions. I noticed her teal tips were starting to fade, she'd probably need to dye them soon. I brought one hand off her lower back and smoothed down her hair. Her eye lids seemed to flutter but she didn't open them. She continued to sleep, cuddling against my chest. I smiled again, man, this girl...  
She looked so cute sleeping in my arms. So peaceful. I wish we could stay like this forever.  
I reached my other hand over to the tiny night stand next to the bed and grabbed my phone. It was 9:30.  
I stifled a yawn. I lightly kissed her on top of her head and carefully lifted her off of me. I knew she was a heavy sleeper, so I wasn't that afraid of waking her.  
I stood at the door way and watched her. She was curled up in the duvet, sleeping like an angel. My angel.  
My angel? Does that sound creepy? Nah. That's exactly what I thought of her. She was tiny and delicate looking. She always stared at the sky, looking as if she wanted to take flight and just fly away... If that makes any sense. She's just quiet and observant. It's interesting.  
I realized I'd been staring at her way too long so I groggily wandered into the bathroom and got a shower. Then I blow dried and straightened my hair.  
I went to the living room and grabbed my spare clothes. Then I went back to the bathroom to change. I threw on a pair of dark grey skinny jeans, and a black tshirt that had a really cool grey skull on the front.  
I went back to Tori's bedroom and peeked in. I noticed she was still sleeping so I went to the kitchen. Man, I was starving! I rummaged through the fridge. She didn't have a lot of things to eat for breakfast. But I saw some ingredients I thought I could use to make pancakes. I pulled out my iPhone and googled a pancake recipe. It was a Delia Smith pancake recipe. Obviously.  
As quietly as I could, I looked through the cupboards and found a pan.  
It took about ten minutes to make the batter, but I was pretty pleased with myself at the final result. That looked edible...right?  
Now came the actually cooking part. Turns out, all I really had to do was pour some batter into the pan, wait for the one side to turn golden, then flip it with a spatula. Pretty simple.  
I whistled the Mario theme tune, and thought about how much I liked Tori...  
Maybe even love...? 'No way!' I mentally yelled at myself. 'There's no way you love Tori! You've only been dating her for, what, 4 days?!' Okay okay, I didn't love her. But I had extremely deep feelings for her. Feelings I've never had for anyone else. Not even Bethany, as strange as that seemed. Considering I thought Beth was my first real love. 'STOP THINKING ABOUT BETH!' I thought as I nervously adjusted my hair.  
All I knew was that I wanted Tori to fall asleep in my arms every night. I never met a girl I had this much in common with. She's already told me her most personal secrets; She trusted me and I trusted her. I was just so lucky to find her.  
I wonder what she thought of me. She didn't really bring up our relationship. I realized I never properly asked her to be my girlfriend. Did she consider herself my girlfriend? I wanted her to be my girlfriend. I decided that I would ask her when she woke up.  
I wondered what she was dreaming about, or if she even had dreams. I don't anymore. But I dunno, she might.

*Tori's POV*  
*Dream/Flashback of VidCon*  
I stood with a group of my friends, it was nice seeing them. There was Leda, Matt, Damon, and Ari. Leda was wearing black skinny jeans and a dark purple top that matched her hair. Her tattoos and piercings made her look really pretty. Matt had dark green hair and was wearing his own merch. Matt and Leda were dating. Damon's brown fringe gave him a slightly childish look that his plugs made up for.  
"I think some green in your hair would look really pretty...maybe teal?" Leda said to me. I laughed.  
"Maybe, I was actually thinking about it." I shrugged. I was envious of Leda's purple hair and wished I'd have the guts to do that...  
"Alright, I'm starving my tits off over here. I'm gonna go get something to eat." Damon said and started to walk away.  
"Wait! I'll come with you! I'm hungry tooooo!" Matt and Damon skipped, yes skipped, away.  
"Boys." Leda rolled her eyes and we laughed. I broadly smiled; I loved my YouTube friends, and it sucked that I didn't get to see them all of the time.  
"Speaking of boys," Ari said excitedly. "What did you and Dan talk about when we were walking?" I felt my cheeks heating up.  
"Um nothing really."  
"So not true! He looked like he was very interested in what you were saying." She smirked.  
"Woah woah woah, catch me up." Leda said.  
"Nothing happened, really. Me and Danisnotonfire were just walking and talking. We were right behind Ari, Catrific, and AmazingPhil." I said quickly. Leda nodded.  
"I think he likes you. A lot." Ari blurted out and smiled.  
"...what?" I looked nervously around, scared he might be near. Luckily, he wasn't.  
"You heard me! You guys should talk again."  
"You know I'm not good at that kind of thing..." I said quietly.  
"What? Talking to boys? That stuff's easy!" Leda smiled.  
"What?!" I said in shock.  
"Okay...maybe not," Leda laughed. "But I don't know, you guys should just talk. Get to know each other better. That's how me and Matt got together." She smiled.  
"I don't know..." I said. I really wanted to talk to Dan again, but I was too scared to do so. He probably didn't care to see me anyway. I looked and saw Matt and Damon coming back.  
They were both munching on fries.  
"Hey Leda, let's go walk around." Matt smiled. Leda nodded.  
"Bye!" We all said and they walked away.  
"Balls! I need to go get more ketchup." Damon frowned.  
"It's cool, I'm going back to our signing table now anyway. I'm exhausted from running around so much and I just want to sit down."  
"Yeah I'm coming, too." I suddenly realized how tired I was from standing."  
"Well see ya guys. If I don't then I'll text you later." He gave us both a quick hug and wandered away.  
Back our table, Ari and I just talked about random things. I finally felt myself relaxing. Then she suddenly started talking about Dan, and started giving me advice.  
"Wait, why are you talking about-" I froze when I realized Dan was walking over to us. I sat up a bit and ran my fingers through my fringe.  
"Hey," he said, smiling down at me. His chocolatey eyes were wide and bright. I blushed and folded my arms.  
"Oh hi...Dan."  
"I have to go to the bathroom. It was nice seeing you again, Dan." Ari quickly stammered and walked away. What the heck? She just went to the bathroom twenty minutes ago...? Oh god. She did that on purpose to leave me alone with Dan. Come on!  
"Wanna go for a walk?" Dan asked, leaning forward, both hands on the table. I was about to make up an excuse to say no, when I stopped myself. What was wrong with me? Dan was an extremely cute boy who was paying attention to me! Something that never happens! I should be excited!  
"Sure," I replied. Wait, was that me who said that?  
I got up and we started to walk.  
We talked awkwardly at first, then we started talking like old friends. We talked about video games, and music, and YouTube. We had so much in common that I was surprised.  
When I finally unfolded my arms and let them drop down to my hips, our fingers brushed past each others. I was starting to like Dan...a lot. He was so cute and funny and just...wow. NOTHING compared to my ex boyfriend, who cared more about cars than me and never really payed attention to me.  
I tried to muster the courage to reach out and hold Dan's hand, but my shyness took over and I failed.  
Eventually, he had to leave and so did I. He leaned down a bit, like he was about to kiss me, but he didn't. He made a fist with his hand and took a step back.  
"It was awesome talking to you, Tori." I blushed. He gave me a sad look, like he was mad at himself that he didn't kiss me. My heart ached at the thought he even wanted to kiss me in the first place. Maybe I made that part up; Maybe he never wanted to kiss me? Maybe I was seeing things.  
I wanted to exchange numbers but I didn't have enough courage to ask, and he didn't ask for mine.  
I stayed awake all night thinking about him...and how he'd most likely never be mine... I mean, he was Danisnotonfire. Why would he ever feel that way about me? It's such an absurd, impossible thought.  
I'm nothing.  
*End of Dream/Flashback*

I slowly opened my eyes, and the light peeking through the blinds casted a gentle shadow across the room. I noticed I was tangled up in my  
I yawned and sat up; I stretched.  
"Dan?" I whispered involuntarily, my dream still fresh in my mind. He wasn't in bed, though the spot where he was laying was still warm. I rolled out of bed and walked over to the large mirror resting on my dresser.  
I quickly ran my fingers through my fringe and tried to smooth my hair. I resisted the urge to dart to the bathroom to apply some makeup. I smiled weakly at my reflection, which I normally didn't do. I was still wearing Dan's shirt. I lifted the collar up to my nose and inhaled his scent. My light green eyes seemed brighter than usual. To be more comfortable, I threw on a pair of black tights. Then I quickly checked my phone.  
There was a long message from Ari that basically said she was having a great time and wanted to stay another night. She'd be home tomorrow afternoon. I smiled, knowing I had the whole day to be alone with Dan. I walked out of the bedroom.  
I quietly strolled into the kitchen/living room (they were in the same room, my apartment was very airy, which I loved) and saw him.  
He was standing in front of the stove, obviously cooking something. Did I smell pancakes? He was changed into a black tshirt and grey skinny jeans that hung very low. You could plainly see his boxers. Classic Dan. He was whistling something and I recognized it as the Mario theme tune. I smiled; he hadn't seen me yet.  
I thought about scaring him, but decided against it. I didn't want him to mess up on whatever he was cooking.  
I walked up behind him and snaked my arms around his waist, intertwining my fingers over his stomach. He jumped a little, but quickly recovered.  
"Hey," I said lightly. I leaned into his back, hugging him close.  
"Hey there." His sleepy British accent made me smile.  
"Ari's staying another night, by the way."  
"More alone time for us, then." I laughed quietly.  
"What are you cooking?"  
"Pancakes."  
"I didn't know you could cook..?"  
"What! That's absurd! Of course I can cook!" He mocked. I laughed.  
"Okay, okay."  
"And plus, these aren't just normal pancakes."  
"They aren't?"  
"Oh no, these are freakin' Delia Smith pancakes!" I giggled into his back, remembering the reference. "I looked up the recipe. Not that I minded, I spend most of my time looking at pictures of Delia on the Internet anyway." He finished.  
"Sounds like I got me some competition."  
"You sure do! Delia is just...stunning. Truly amazing. And she knows that her place is in the kitchen."  
"What, just because she's a woman means her place is in the kitchen?"  
"Yes, it's quite obvious." I pulled away and smacked him on the arm.  
"Hey!" He cried, before turning and sticking his tongue out at me.  
"You asked for it!" I said.  
"How?"  
"By being ignorant."  
"Me? Ignorant? Pshh." He winked before turning back to the pancakes.  
"Come here," he said suddenly.  
"What?"  
"Come here, I want to show you something." I stepped closer. He smirked and leaned down, surprising me with a kiss.  
"There," he said. I blushed and he smirked again. "I think these pancakes are just about done. Just need to make one more!"  
I watched him pour the batter and wait for the one side to turn golden. He was about to use a spatula to flip the pancake but I grabbed his arm.  
"Wait, I want to see you flip it, like really flip it."  
"You mean with just the pan?" I nodded eagerly. He groaned.  
"Ugghhhhhh whyyyyyyy?" I laughed.  
"Come on, please?"  
"Fine. Anything for you." He gave me a quick kiss on the forehead and put the spatula down.  
"Jesus." He muttered and picked up the pan. I stood back.  
He jerked up the pan and the pancake flew in the air. I thought it was going to land perfectly back on the pan, but I was wrong.  
I was very wrong. It was about to land on Dan's head but he yelped and jumped back, dropping the pan. I burst into laughter as the pancake plopped onto the floor, splattering batter on the bottom cabinets next to the stove. I pan dropped with a 'clank" sound.  
"Bloody hell!" Dan screamed. I laughed so hard that I needed to lean against the counter to steady me.  
"It's not funny!" Dan screamed and frantically tried to clean up the gooey mess.  
"Yes...it...is..." I said between giggles.  
"You're lucky I love the sound of your laugh, missy." I stopped laughing and gave him a weird look.  
"Fine, I'll calling you 'missy'." Dan said as he stood up, dropping the pan in the sink. He went to the fridge and got some butter and syrup.  
"It's not that..." I said quietly. "It's my laugh. How could you love it?! It's disgusting." I said sheepishly.  
"What?" Dan spun around.  
"Yeah, I've never liked the sound of my laugh...it's annoying." Dan gave me a puzzling look and shook his head.  
"How could you think that? You have the cutest laugh ever! I could listen to it all day."  
"...really?" I said, finding that quite difficult to believe.  
"You really need to stop doing that, Tor." Dan gave me a sad look before plopping some pancakes onto two plates.  
"Doing what?"  
"Putting yourself down all of the time. You always say how you hate your eyes, your body, your hair, and now your laugh? You seriously need to stop." Dan said sternly.  
I stood still, completely stunned. Did I really come across like that? A whining, annoying person that had literally NO self esteem? Yep, that's exactly what I'm like. I knew that. And I hated myself for that. Oh great, another thing to hate myself over.  
I didn't know what to say so I just stared down at my bare feet. 'Don't cry. Come on, Tori. DON'T CRY!'  
"Hey, Tori, are you crying?" Shit.  
"Tori..." I heard Dan slowly walk over to me. He reached his fingers under my chin and forced me to look at him. I stared into his brown eyes, and he stared into mine. A tear rolled down my cheek.  
Dan brushed away the tear and kissed my cheek.  
"...don't cry..." He said softly.  
"I'm sorry."  
He folded his arms around me and pulled me close. I wrapped my arms around his waist.  
"Don't cry." He repeated. I had no idea why, but I started sobbing into his chest. Dan whispered to me, and rubbed his hands up and down my back, comforting me.  
"Hey, Tori." He pulled away and put his hands on my shoulders. I sniffled.  
"I'm really sorry, I shouldn't have said what I said." Dan looked so guilty.  
"It's not what you said that made me upset...it was the truth of it..." He looked at me thoughtfully.  
"It's alright." Was all he said. He leaned down and gave me a light kiss on the lips. I smiled weakly.  
"Now, come on," He said brightly, crying to cheer me up. "You HAVE to try these pancakes. You're going to LOVE them!" He said enthusiastically and handed me my plate. I have no idea what I'd do if I didn't have him to keep me together. What did I do before? I have no idea. Make YouTube videos? Yep, that's right. That's why I continued to do it.  
After our amazing breakfast, we walked over to the couch. Dan plopped down and pulled me onto his lap. I smiled and cuddled into him, my arms around his neck.  
"I've been thinking..." I said suddenly.  
"Yeah?" Dan asked, kissing my neck.  
"I've been wanting to do something for the longest time, but I haven't had the courage to do it." I said, suddenly embarrassed at how stupid that sounded. Dan continued to kiss my neck, lowering down to above my collar bone.  
"Mhmm?"  
"Well...I want to get a tattoo."  
"What?" Dan looked up at me.  
"Yeah." I smiled weakly. I was expecting him to laugh at me but he didn't.  
"I think that's so cool, Tori!" He said excitedly.  
"Really?" I said, shocked.  
"Yeah! Why do you suddenly want a tattoo?" I hesitated before answering,  
"Lately I've been doing a lot of things that require a ridiculous amount of courage and confidence...and I don't know. I just feel so free and beautiful and I've been happier than ever recently. So, I figured, I should get the tattoo now when I still feel confident and free." I said quickly and shyly. Okay, NOW I was expecting him to laugh at me. He didn't.  
"Do any of these courageous and free things have to do with me?"  
"Actually, all of them do. I was so scared even tweeting you when you asked about going to Florida. And basically everything I've done from then has been because of you."  
Dan grinned and pulled me close, giving me a long kiss. I blushed.  
"This sounds like a great idea." Dan smiled. I looked down.  
"And I realized that you were completely right. I do put myself down all of the time and I really hate it. I need to just be happy with myself. And I want a tattoo to reflect that."  
"This is really great." Dan half smiled and his dimple looked so adorable.  
"What is?"  
"How we can already tell each other just about anything." Except about what happened between you and Beth, I thought. I still didn't know what happened between them. But I held it in and didn't nag Dan about it. I tried not to worry. I didn't say anything and just sat quietly on Dan's lap. He rubbed my arm and gave me a peck on the cheek.  
"So, let's get that tattoo, yeah?" Dan whispered in my ear and I bit my lip.  
I was so happy he didn't think I was a freak for this. I just hoped that this tattoo wasn't a mistake. Same with my relationship with Dan.


	13. Darling, You'll Be Okay

Song fo dis chapter: Hold On Till May by Pierce The Veil (two ptv songs in a row?! wha?! I'm only choosing it because this song inspires Tori's tattoo.) You don't have to listen to it for the chapter to make sense, but you should anyway!(: Also, don't forget to read the authors note at the end for some important info ^_^ Thanks for reading :D 3 I'm really proud of this chapter, btw!

•••

Almost giddy with excitement, I hopped off Dan's lap and wandered into the bathroom. I got a quick shower and blow-dried my hair. Then I curled it slightly so it fell in loose curls. I applied some makeup to enhance my green eyes.

Then I ran back to my room to get dressed. I was so excited. Beyond excited. I was about to get my first tattoo! And I knew exactly want I wanted it to be. Whistling to myself, I got dressed.

I pulled on my blue Glamour Kills tank top that had a pink anchor on it. I also pulled on a dark gray zip up hoodie (that I left unzipped). I decided to wear denim skinny jeans with my black Doc Martens. I also wore my black Neff beanie. Satisfied, I walked back into the living room.

Dan was sitting on the floor with his back resting on the couch. He was on his laptop.

"Hey," I said and sat down next to him.

"Hey babe," He replied, not looking away from the screen.

I looked and saw he was on YouTube.

"What are you doing?"

"It's the weekend, gotta upload my new video."

"Ahh." I rested my head on his shoulder as he started uploading the video.

"Should definitely be up by the time we get back," he said and closed the laptop. He stood and reached his hand down to pull me up.

"Thanks," I laughed. "Hey, wait, that reminds me!"

I jogged into my room and grabbed my tiny blue vlogging camera off my dresser. I smiled when I saw it was fully charged and I walked back into the living room.

Dan asked what my camera was for.

"I think it'll be cool to vlog me getting a tattoo. Plus, now I don't have to make a whole fancy video and spend all night editing." He smiled and nodded, grabbing his phone off the coffee table and sliding it into his back pocket.

"Let's go!" I was grinning ear to ear as we left the apartment. Did I mention that I was super excited?!

When we were in the car I asked Dan to film me so I could do the intro. Luckily we were at a red light so I could look at the camera.

I waved, "Hey guys!" I smiled. "So, today I'm gonna do something really crazy. And that thing is...get a tattoo! I think I mentioned this before in a vlog but I can't remember. Anyway, I'm just really excited and I probably look like a complete weirdo because of how excited I am." Dan stifled a laugh as I continued, "I know exactly what I want but I'm gonna keep it a secret. A surprise, I guess. Hopefully, I can film the process for you guys. And hopefully I don't end up crying or anything."

I looked up from the camera and at Dan, "Alright, that's good." He nodded and turned the camera off. Then he put it back into my purse. The light turned green so I payed attention to the road.

"So, what are you gonna get?" Dan asked.

"You heard me."

"What?"

"I'm keeping it a secret." I giggled and Dan whined,

"Awwwww cooommmmeee oonnnnn. You can teeeelllll meeeeeee!"

"Nope! It's a secret!"

"Fiiinnneeee!" Dan huffed and I laughed. I reached my free hand, that I wasn't driving with, out and intertwined my fingers with Dan's. He squeezed.

"Are you nervous?"

"Well, I won't be nervous until like ten seconds before I get it. I'm weird like that. I don't worry about anything until just before it happens."

"Maybe that's better. You won't chicken out this way."

"I'm definitely not chickening out. Not this time. I need this tattoo."

"Why?"

"Personal reasons, Daniel." He squeezed my hand again and we stayed quiet for the rest of the car ride.

We arrived at the tattoo parlor and both got out of the car. I took my camera and started to film when Dan reached for my hand again. I smiled and filmed the tattoo parlor building as we walked in.

I pushed through the door and Dan followed. I panned the camera around and tried to capture the whole place.

There were hundreds of pictures of tattoos hanging on the walls. To my right was a couch that a couple of people were sitting on. In the back were a couple chairs that people were sitting on, getting tattoos. I lowered the camera when a lady walked up to us and smiled.

"Hey! I'm Emily. Can I help you guys with something?" Emily had fire red hair that was done up in a high ponytail. She had a lot of piercings, but like Leda, they made her look really pretty. Tattoos covered both of her arms.

"She was hoping to get a tattoo today." Dan said. I nodded.

"Well," Emily craned her neck and pretended to look around. "Looks like you came to the right place." I smiled.

"Alright, come with me." Emily said and we both followed her to the back.

"Is it okay if I film in here?" I asked Emily.

"Sure, I don't care." She shrugged.

"Great! Thanks."

She had me sit in the chair I'd get my tattoo in.

"Alright! Tell me all about the tattoo you want." She said and got out a sketch book.

I glanced up at Dan and asked him to film me, but I told him to stand far away and just zoom in because I still wanted it to be a secret. He jokingly rolled his eyes and walked out of earshot, then started to film.

"Is he your boyfriend?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, he is." I smiled at Dan who was holding up the camera. He gave me a thumbs up and I laughed.

"He's pretty cute." Emily winked and I blushed.

"He's not from around here?" Emily asked, probably regarding his accent.

"No, he's from London. He's visiting."

"That's nice that you guys are making it work considering he doesn't live here." I felt my stomach drop and nodded. We hadn't even started to make a long distance relationship work and I didn't want to think about it.

I told Emily exactly what I wanted and she sketched it out for me. I smiled, telling her it was perfect.

"Okay, where do ya want this beaut?"

I held up my left arm and pointed to my wrist.

"Great, I think this is going to look amazing!"

"Hopefully." I laughed. I really liked Emily. She was nice and I wasn't embarrassed at all about telling her about my tattoo. Well, I guess that's a pretty good thing considering she WAS my tattoo artist.

She went into the back room to make the stencil.

I motioned for Dan to come closer so I could talk to the camera.

"So, it's gonna happen, guys. My tattoo's planned out and everything. And it's right about now that I'm starting to get nervous."

"I'm sure it's gonna look amazing." Dan said, then winced. I guess he didn't want to be in the video because he was afraid I wouldn't want him in it. But I smiled reassuringly as if to say 'It's okay'. He grinned, relieved.

"I really hope so. Considering it's permanent and all." Dan laughed as Emily walked back in.

Dan stayed close as Emily did the stenciling and what not. I was starting to get pretty nervous and I wanted Dan to hold my hand. But he had to film.

I watched as Emily got out some needles and ink and whatever else she'd need. She set down a stool next to me and sat down.

She held up a needle.

"Ready?" She asked in her friendly, chirpy voice.

I gulped and nodded. I wanted to close my eyes but I didn't want to look like a huge baby.

As soon as the needle made contact with my skin I wanted to scream. It stung so badly. How was I going survive this?! After a couple of seconds the intense sting went away and it started to feel like a constant pinching. Actually, it felt like my wrist was being dragged over a brick wall. Or a cat was scratching it. It hurt like hell, but it was bearable.

"You okay? You look like you're about to cry." Dan said.

"Nope...I'm all good. This feels amazing." I said through gritted teeth and Emily laughed.

"Trust me, it stops hurting as much once you get used to it." She said. I nodded, hoping that was true.

"Hey, um, Dan?" I glanced at him.

"Yeah?"

"Wanna take a quick break from filming and hold my hand instead?"

"I was waiting for you to ask that." He laughed and kneeled down on my right. I clasp his hand and squeezed. I instantly felt better. I was probably squeezing the hell out of Dan's hand, most likely hurting him, but he didn't say anything. He didn't look at the needle or at Emily, but at me. Looked straight into my eyes.

"You're doing great!" He said and I smiled.

"Only a couple more minutes." Emily said quietly. She was completely focused on what she was doing, which is a good thing.

'A couple more minutes' turned into fifteen more minutes of hand squeezing and teeth gritting.

Emily quickly wiped my tattoo with a swab of alcohol and admired her work.

"Take a look." She said and I peered down nervously at my wrist. Dan looked away, respecting my wish for it to be a surprise.

I gasped. It was absolutely perfect!

"Was that a good gasp?" Emily asked.

"Yes! Thank you so much, it's beautiful!" I grinned. Emily got my tattoo completely cleaned up then went to put the needles away. I took my camera from Dan and started filming.

"Okay I got the tattoo guys! It's looks amazing! I'm going to show you in a couple minutes." Emily walked back over and I asked if it was alright if I filmed her a little. She said it was alright.

I turned the camera to her.

"Emily from Atomic Ink did such an amazing job. She's great, I definitely recommend her." Emily smiled and said "No problemo."

I turned the camera off and took out my phone. I took a couple of pictures so I could show Ari.

"I'm gonna go get your bandages so look at it while you can. Then I'll explain everything you need to do to care for it." Emily said and walked away. I quickly turned the camera back on and filmed my wrist. I zoomed in really close. It was red and swollen, so I didn't film it for very long. It hurt like a bad sunburn, but it was starting to feel better. I put the camera in my purse.

I turned to Dan. He was looking around, whistling. Obviously not trying to look at my tattoo but you could tell he wanted to.

"Hey," I said and touched his arm.

"Yeah?" He said without looking at me.

"You can look now, silly." I smiled and he spun around to look at me.

"Really?" He asked and I nodded. Grinning, he sat down on the stool Emily was sitting on.

I turned my wrist over so you couldn't see the tattoo and I brought the hand over to Dan.

"Reeaadddyyyy?" I asked.

"Yes!" He laughed.

I slowly turned my wrist over and Dan went wide-eyed. He reached out and brushed over it lightly. I winced a little and he pulled back, muttering an apology.

"What does it mean? Are they song lyrics or something? Or a quote?" He asked without taking his eyes off my tattoo.

My tattoo already meant so much to me. It was in fact song lyrics. My tattoo read,

"Darling you'll be okay" (without the quotation marks)

It was written across my left wrist in pretty cursive. It was simply black. Simply beautiful.

I quickly explained to Dan that it was from a song called "Hold On Till May" by my favorite band: Pierce The Veil. I said how much the song meant to me. I didn't explain any further because Emily came back with the bandages.

This song has just always meant so much to me. The tattoo was going to be a constant reminder that everything is going to be okay. If something bad happens or I'm feeling down, I can just look at the tattoo and know that things won't always be broken. It was a reminder to stay strong, stay courageous, and to always keep my head held high.

Emily explained that I should put some lotion on it in a couple days when I could take the bandage off.

After I payed and thanked Emily, we walked back out to the car. I took out my camera again.

"Alright we have to go buy some lotion or something now for my tattoo. My wrist feels like it has a rug burn or something, if you're wondering. But the pain is starting to go away." I said into the camera then put it away.

I drove to the local CVS and bought the product that Emily recommended. I vlogged some more before returning to the car.

The drive home was mostly, and strangely, silent. There was an awkward air between us and I didn't know why. Most of my thoughts were consumed by my new tattoo, and the constant burn that I felt.

Finally, Dan spoke up, "So, I've been thinking..."

"Yeah?" I asked nervously.

"It's about something I think we've both been avoiding...coming out with our relationship." I felt my body tense up but I nodded. Dan continued, "I'm not really sure why we don't want to come right out and say 'Oh, hey, by the way, we're dating!' But I want to know your thoughts on it."

I thought a moment before replying, "You're right. We have been avoiding it. The way you were afraid to be in my vlog really upset me. To be honest, I thought you were ashamed of me, and that's why you didn't want us to be public."

"What? I'm not ashamed of you at all, Tori! I can't believe you thought that!"

"What are you talking about? Have you SEEN your last girlfriend? With her perfect, long, black hair? And her piercing blue eyes? Her perfect body? I know your fans absolutely love her! How could I compete with that at all?" I winced, thinking about my tattoo. And how it was a symbol for me to stop thinking negatively about myself and to know that I WILL always be okay.

"Tori, listen. I'm not ashamed of you. At all. Okay? And in regards to...Bethany...she's NOTHING compared to you! She might have been pretty or whatever, but she had a terrible personality. You? You're absolutely gorgeous and you have such an amazing personality. You're funny and charming and adorable, and you make me really happy."

Don't tear up...don't tear up... He continued,

"Look, I want to tell you what happened between Beth and me. So you know why Beth is nothing like what she seems to be. She's nothing to me. And about being in your vlog, I'm willing to completely go public. I have a lot of faith in us. Are YOU willing to go public?"

I thought about what Dan said. He called me beautiful, charming, funny. Everything I didn't think I was. I wasn't pretty, and I was certainly annoying. I thought about my tattoo 'Darling you'll be okay'. I WILL be okay. Coming out with our relationship is going to be fine. Learning about Bethany will be fine. Everything is going to be fine.

And, plus, Dan said he had faith in us. I did too.

"I'm willing, Dan." I blinked back some tears and I felt Dan intertwine his fingers with my free hand. I squeezed and tried to focus on the road.

My mind was tangled with so many thoughts. I wanted to get home as quickly as possible.

When we got home, I made us some lunch. Dan sat on the couch making sure everything was fine with his video. I made us some grilled cheese sandwiches and I heated up some popcorn.

I sat down next to him and handed him his plate. I set the bowl of popcorn between us.

"Want to watch a film?" Dan asked and tossed a piece of popcorn in the air, catching it in his mouth. I smiled.

"Anything to take my mind off of the burning on my wrist."

"It still hurts?" He sounded concerned.

"It's fine. Most of the pain went away but now it feels like a painful itch, or a pretty decent sunburn."

He reached his arm across my shoulders and pulled me close to him. Without knocking over the popcorn, of course. He kissed the top of my head.

"I'm really proud of you, by the way. Getting a tattoo isn't easy. You took it like a champ." I smiled.

"Thanks. I'm just really glad I went through with it."

"Alright, so what do you want to watch?"

We ended up watching My Neighbor Totoro, one of my favorite Miyazaki movies. We watched on Dan's laptop, and after we were done eating, I curled up into his side.

After the movie ended, we played a couple of Wii games, like MarioKart.

After Dan lost to me for the like tenth time, he threw his Wii remote down.

"Alright, I quit!"

"You only quit because you can't win."

"Shut up!" He stuck his tongue at me.

I laughed as my phone started to ring.

It was my mom calling. I hopped off the couch.

"Hey, mom!" I said nervously. Last time I talked to her...well, it didn't go so good.

"Hello, Tori. How are you doing?" Her clean, abrupt voice filled my ears.

My mom was a very nice lady, she just wasn't the first to, um, accept certain things. For example, my YouTube channel. Like I said, my parents didn't exactly love the idea of me skipping out on college to make videos for a living. When I last talked to my mom, she tried to convince me, yet again, to try to go to college.

"I'm doing really good. Great, actually." I usually said that to my mom, as if you rub in how happy I was not working a 9 to 5 job.

"That's good. I wanted to ask you something, honey."

"Yeah, mom?"

"Your father and I wanted to come down to visit you. Next weekend."

I glanced over at Dan, who was on his phone. He was the type of boy my parents really wouldn't approve of. With his earrings and hair style. With his sarcasm. The fact he was ALSO a YouTuber. I mean, my parents didn't even approve of me, with my teal tips and my outfit choices. I was already scared to death on how they would react about my tattoo. They would say our relationship was absurd because he wasn't from here. They can't come here. They just can't.

"Sorry, mom, but next weekend isn't the best for me. I have a lot of meetings and stuff."

"Why would you have meetings? You don't have a real job." Yep, my mom just loves to make me feel great about YouTube.

"I have meetings about YouTube. You wouldn't understand." I said, trying to stay calm.

"I'm glad that I don't. The meetings are probably about how many brain cells you lose when making a YouTube video."

"Mom." I heard her sigh.

"Well, you don't really have a choice. We already booked our plane tickets. You'll have to pick us up from the airport this Friday. We're staying the weekend."

My jaw dropped, "What?!" Dan looked up at me but I just shook my head at him.

"Tori, we haven't seen you in so long! We miss you."

"I mean, I miss you too. But that isn't a good time for me."

"Make it a good time."

"Mom."

"See you Friday!" She said cheerfully.

"Mom!" The line went dead.

"Argh!" I groaned and collapsed next to Dan on the coach.

"Your mum sounds like a lovely woman." Dan said.

"Just grand." I said and Dan laughed.

"What did she want?"

"She's coming down here with my Dad next weekend. She's visiting."

"What's wrong with that?"

"For one, she hates YouTube."

"C'mon, I'm sure she doesn't HATE it."

"Oh no, she actually hates it. I mean, she doesn't flat out say she hates it. But she doesn't approve of it. My Dad's a lot more understanding. He even watches my videos."

"Well at least you're getting some support from them."

"Dan, the problem is that I don't think they'll really, um, approve of you..."

"Me? Why?"

"Because you're a YouTuber, too." I didn't want to mention the other reasons why they wouldn't like him.

"They don't even know we're dating." I added. Dan thought for a moment.

"Well, you know what? I actually really want to meet your parents. I want to make a great first impression. And, come on, how could you parents ever not like me? I'm perfect."

"And not modest at all."

"I know, I'm just great." I rolled my eyes.

"You are." I sat up and kissed his cheek. He smiled and leaned down, kissing me on the lips. He tangled his fingers in my hair and I brought my hands up to the back of his neck. He shivered; He doesn't really like it when people touch his neck, but he told me he doesn't mind when I do it. Energy bounced between us. I pulled away and rested my forehead on his.

"Thanks for being so cool about meeting my parents."

"No problem, Tor." He gave me another peck on the lips.

For the rest of the day we played video games and talked and kissed and did other random things. I edited my vlog and uploaded it (I kept all of the footage of Dan in it. We both agreed that it would be a good way to kind of come out with our relationship. I even kept in me asking him to hold my hand).

At around midnight, we changed and got into bed. I was wearing another one of Dan's t-shirts. He was wearing nothing but boxers this time.

We laid, wrapped in each other arms, for hours. We just talked and kissed and stuff. It was really nice. I wanted to do it every single night.

Dan eventually drifted off to sleep.

I was curled up into his side. I looked up at him and smiled. He had a goofy, adorable, sleepy expression on his face. I realized how much I liked him. More than I ever thought I would.

I suddenly realized that Dan never told me about what happened between him and Bethany. And you know what? I realized that I didn't even want to know. Beth was his past. I was his present and, hopefully, his future. I just hoped that everything would remain like this between us.

I held up my left wrist to my face. And I knew everything would remain the same because under the bandages read the words "Darling you'll be okay".

And it would.

•••

Quick A/N! So yeah a couple of things have changed in le story. Biggest change, Tori isn't 19 like I originally wanted her to be. I realized that doesn't exactly, um, work. So, she's now 21. Her, Dan, and Ari are ALL 21. So yeah, that doesn't really affect the story but I wanted you to know. Also, Tori does CURRENTLY have teal tips (I think I addressed this in a previous authors note)

Also, what do you guys think of the story? Any things you want to see happen or...? Should Ari get a boyfriend or remain forever alone(kidding lawl)?

Thanks for the number of reads, y'all rock! And some of your comments really make my day so if you're scared to leave one or whatever, I do love them.

Alright, that's about it :3 3


	14. Unlike Any Other

A/N: What's this?! An update?! Omfg!1! (I'm sorry) Hopefully this longer chapter can make up for that.  
Song for this chapter: Thunder (Radio Mix) by Boys Like Girls. Enjoy :D  
••••••••••••••••••••

*One Week Later: Friday*

*Tori's POV*  
It was about another hour until I'd pick up my parents from the airport. I convinced Dan to stay home while I got them.  
Dan: Why can't I come?  
Me: Trust me, this is for your benefit, babe. You don't want to be trapped in a car with them.  
Dan: I'm sure they're not *that* terrible.  
Me: You're right, they really aren't. I just want them to be eased into the fact that I have a boyfriend.  
Dan: Wait. You didn't tell them about me?  
Me: No...I forgot.  
Dan: Tor.  
Me: It's going to be fine!  
Dan: I...fine. Okay.  
Everything's going to be fine... I told myself that over and over again. Speaking of everything being okay, I should update on my tattoo. The bandages were off and it was looking a lot better. Most of the redness went away. I put cocoa butter on it (which smells amazing) twice a day. Looking back on the day I got it, the pain wasn't THAT bad and I was already contemplating getting another. It's true what people say, tattoos ARE addictive.  
Anyway, I was insanely nervous and incredibly anxious about my parent's being here. This wasn't helping my already bad anxiety that I've dealt with for years.  
Pacing back and worth in the living room, I was biting my bottom lip so hard I was probably drawing blood.  
"Tori. Relax. I love your parents!" Ari piped from behind her laptop, editing a video probably.  
"And they love you, too. But I also want them to love Dan." Dan wasn't over right now, he was at his hotel room getting ready. He promised he wouldn't show up "like the complete bum I make him out to be". That was his way of saying he would at least make sure his jeans were stain free.  
"Dan's such a great guy, you have nothing to worry about! And with that sweet accent and charm, they're going to love him." Ari said confidently.  
"But we haven't even been dating that long. Two weeks isn't long." I said, finally. I've been thinking it all day. Maybe I wasn't with Dan long enough. Maybe he shouldn't be meeting my parents. I didn't bring this up to Dan. I mean, we haven't even slept with each other or anything. Definitely weren't throwing around "I love you's".  
"But you guys went public and everything so you obviously are planning on being with each other for awhile."  
Yes, we did go public. And it was insane. I was so nervous to read the comments on my video and to hear what our viewers had to say.  
Most of the danosaurs were completely shocked about Dan breaking up with Beth. They were angry of course. I got a lot of hate for a day or two. Then, they started to lighten up when Dan wrote a very long tumblr post that said he was basically happy with me and that he wasn't going to let them continue to hate on me.  
I knew I would probably get that kind of response, since they loved Bethany so much. But, it still hurt really bad. Am I really that bad? My self-esteem was already at zero so they didn't affect me as much as they probably wanted to. Dan swears they'll completely change and fall in love with me.  
My viewers were a lot more happier for us. Thankfully.  
A lot of our YouTuber friends were shocked, too. It's not like me and Dan were best friends before we got together. But nonetheless, they were supportive and happy for us. Chris even texted me saying that he secretly never liked Bethany and he was so relieved that he left her and that he was with me.  
I just sighed at Ari and sat on the couch to calm down.  
I checked the time on my iPhone again and again and again until it was time to leave.  
I quickly checked my outfit in the bathroom mirror before I left. Like I said, my parents didn't love my sense of fashion. I was wearing a gray pullover that had an old fashioned Mickey Mouse on it and black skinny jeans. I was also wearing my black Doc Martens and a dark red beanie to match Mickey. I had also straightened my hair.  
"You look cute." Ari commented before I left.  
"Thanks, girl. Are you going to come to dinner with my parents and Dan or...?"  
"And be there for all that awkwardness? Hell no! I actually have a date tonight." Ari smiled mischievously.  
"Wait. What?" I grinned at her.  
"His name is Mark. Real cutie. Met him at Publix a couple days ago and we talked for awhile."  
"Why didn't you tell me about him?!"  
"I don't know. I didn't really know if talking to him was going to lead anywhere but he called me yesterday and asked me out."  
"That's so great! I'm happy for you!"  
"Woah there, we're not getting married or anything. Just going on a date. And enough about Mark. You're going to be late to the airport!"

The drive to the airport wasn't that long, but I called Dan anyway to keep me company. I put my phone on speaker then laid it on my lap.  
"Hey, babe!" He answered.  
"I'm really nervous."  
"What? No hello?" He asked sarcastically. I rolled my eyes and laughed.  
"Hello, loser."  
"There. Was that so hard? And it's going to be great! They'll love me."  
"I hope so."  
"You're worrying too much."  
"And you're not worrying enough."  
"I'll have you know that I've been sitting on my bed staring at the wall for the past hour trying to forget about how nervous I am."  
"Oh."  
"Yeah."  
"Well it's reassuring to know that neither of us really has it together in this relationship."  
"I wouldn't have it any other way."  
Our conversation continued for awhile until the moment came and I had arrived at the airport.  
"I'll see you when I get back." I said anxiously to Dan.  
"Alright. Bye, Tor. I'm heading over to the apartment now." Click.  
I parked the car out front and scanned around to find my parents.  
I saw them and pulled up.  
My father stood tall next to my tiny mother. Mom's dark brown hair was in natural fluffy curls that fell to her shoulders. Her light blue eyes were bright and fun, though her personality wasn't always like that. My dad's sandy blonde hair was gelled back and his kind dark green eyes widened with happiness when he saw me. I had a mixture of my parents eyes, but I looked more like my father.  
I jumped out of the car and ran into my father's arms.  
"Dad!"  
"Hey there, sweatheart."  
"How was your flight?" I asked, pulling away.  
"There was turbulence or something, but overall fine. Hello, honey." My mom answered and pulled me into a hug. I smelled her perfume and immediately thought of home.  
"Honey." My mother muttered immediately.  
"What?"  
"Your hair."  
"Oh, I, uh, dyed it. Only the tips though. Everything else is natural."  
"I think it looks pretty." Dad piped up. Mom still looked a little taken back but shrugged it off. Then...she noticed my tattoo.  
"Honey!" My mom practically shrieked and she pointed at my tattoo.  
"Oh! I, um, got a tattoo." I smiled weakly. "Only about a week ago."  
My mom looked like she saw a ghost and just shook her head.  
"Mom? Can we not do this right now? I'm twenty one years old."  
"She's right, Tess. Our little Tori is an adult. Want to tell her how many tattoos you had at her age?" My dad said with a laugh. I gave my mom a confused look.  
"Rick!" My mom looked distraught and my dad winked at me. I smiled, knowing that my mom probably wouldn't bug me about it anymore.  
I helped my dad put the luggage in the car and we got in. Me and my dad up front and my mom in the back.  
"How's Ari, sweetheart?" Dad asked.  
"She's great. She actually won't be home tonight because she has a date."  
"I didn't know she had a boyfriend." Mom said.  
"Oh, it's only their first date. She didn't even tell me about it until, like, a half hour ago."  
The car went silent. I started thinking of ways to tell them that *I* had a boyfriend. I figured since it was silent, it was now or never.  
"So, um..." I started. "There's someone I'm really excited for you guys to meet," and then I started babbling. "He's really great and smart and funny and-"  
"Wait. What? You're dating someone?!" Mom asked, sounding shocked. Wow, thanks mom.  
"Ye-Yeah." I said quickly.  
"Since when?"  
"Um. Well we've known each other for about a year, but we actually started dating two weeks ago."  
"Two weeks? That's it?" Mom asked, still sounding shocked.  
"Mom. All relationships have to start somewhere. And he's really excited to meet you guys."  
"Tess, I'm sure he's a good kid if he's excited to meet us." My dad said calmly.  
"Can you guys just go easy on him? Try not to scare him away or anything?" I meant to say it as a joke, but I was actually incredibly serious. My mom stayed silent but my dad started asking me about him.  
I told my dad that his name was Dan, he was British, he was twenty one, and that I liked him a lot.  
Luckily, our conversation was cut short because we pulled into the parking lot of my apartment building. I hated being stuck in a car with them.  
When we reached the door to my apartment, I took a deep breath and unlocked the door. I knew Dan would be inside.  
Anxiously, I opened the door and immediately spotted Dan. He was sitting on the couch playing on his phone. He turned his head when he heard the door open and he quickly put his phone away. He stood and broadly smiled.  
"Mr. and Mrs. Rider! Nice to meet you! My name's Dan." He walked up to my parents, shook my dads hand and gave my mom a polite hug.  
My mom looked him up and down and I couldn't read her face. My father smiled politely.  
Dan was dressed in denim skinny jeans and a blue and white striped sweater. He smoothed his hair down. He looked really...respectable. And incredibly handsome.  
I walked up to him and pecked him on the cheek. He smiled at me.  
"Call me Tess." My mom smiled. She was probably relieved that Dan wasn't a complete bum.  
"Rick." My dad said.  
"It's great to meet you both." He said to them. Damn, he's really good at meeting parents. I looked over at the bar and saw a bouquet of flowers resting on it.  
"Dan?" I poked his arm and he looked to where I was pointing.  
"Oh!" He whispered and jogged over to the bouquet. He picked them up and walked back over.  
He handed them to my mom, who was obviously very pleased.  
"These, are for you, Mrs- I mean, Tess."  
"Oh!" She grinned and sniffed the bouquet of pink roses. I can't believe he thought to do something like that! He's so sweet.  
"Dan! I love them! Thank you, dear." My mom gushed and Dan modestly smiled.  
I smiled at him, relieved at what a perfect first impression he was making.  
"Such a gentlemen." I smirked and touched his arm lightly. He simply smiled at me. I knew he wasn't being incredibly affectionate as usual because my parents were in the room.  
"Here, mom, let me put them in water for you."  
As I walked away to fill a vase with water, Dan and my parents sat on the couch and made some light hearted conversation.  
I watched from where I was standing and smiled to myself. I placed the vase on the bar so my mom could take them to her hotel room later.  
Then, I went into the living room area and said to my parents, "We made dinner reservations, so we should probably head out."  
Everyone stood and headed to the door. My dad and Dan walked out first and they were chatting away about something.  
My mother grabbed my arm and pulled me back a bit. She whispered, "I like him." and I blushed at her. "I told you he was great." I whispered back and we caught up with Dan and my dad.

We sat down at our table at the restaurant. I was next to Dan, who was next to my dad, who was next to my mom, who was next to me.  
We all chatted along happily as Dan and I had our hands interlocked under the table.  
My parents of course wanted to know about his job and I got a little worried but Dan answered excellently.  
"I work at the BBC. I'm a radio host for Radio 1, which is a big radio station in the UK. I've been working on and off at Radio 1 for the past couple years but recently my friend Phil and I became hosts for a two hour long show. We're still working out all of the kinks but we're aiming to start it within the next few months." Dan said casually.  
"That sounds really cool." My dad said honestly.  
"What about college?" Oh mom.  
"I went to Manchester University for a year, studying Law."  
"What made you stop?"  
"Oh, don't get me wrong, it was a lovely place. But my passion unfortunately wasn't Law. So I took a year off to do some thinking about my future and that's when I started working with the BBC." My parents nodded and my dad started telling Dan a story about a lawyer friend of his that decided when he was in his 40's that Law wasn't for him. He said that it was good that Dan discovered that when he was still young.  
Then, my mom asked, "How did you guys meet?" I decided to take some of the attention off Dan and I began,  
"We met at a really huge convention about, like, 7ish months ago. And we became friends after that. Then recently Dan decided to visit me and, I don't know, we just really clicked as more than just friends." Dan squeezed my hand. Okay okay, not all of that story is true, but it's mostly right. Please don't ask what the convention was for, please don't ask what the convention was for...  
"What was the convention for?" My mom asked. Of course she did.  
"It was VidCon, um, which is a YouTube convention." I answered quickly.  
"Why would Dan be at...oh. Dan, you make, uh, videos?" My mother asked him, looking somewhat disappointed.  
"Oh, yes. It's just a hobby. I'm more focused on my upcoming radio show." He answered. He was mostly lying, since I knew his YouTube channel meant a lot more to him than the radio show.  
My parents didn't say anything else about YouTube and the conversation shifted to something else. But I knew my parents would bring it up to me later.  
The dinner was a success, besides the whole awkward YouTube part.  
Apparently before we came, Dan convinced my father to let him pay for me and him. He even wanted to pay for my parents too but my father declined. But I knew that would make a mark on my parents and they would think he was a gentlemen because of it.  
After dinner it was completely dark outside and since my parents were tired from their flight, they said they wanted to go to their hotel room. Luckily, throughout the entire night, they didn't ask if we were going to make a long distance thing work. I'm certain they really liked Dan, and I was so freakin happy about that.

*Dan's POV*  
As we left the restaurant, Tor's mom pulled me aside.  
"It was really nice meeting you, Dan." She gave me a genuine smile.  
"Likewise." I smiled down at her. And I was telling the truth. I loved Tori's parents. I don't know why she was so worried.  
"I just...have some advice for you." She sounded really serious.  
"Oh?" I asked. She suddenly looked sad.  
"Tori...she's been through a lot. You probably know this, but her last boyfriend...was no good. He really ruined her for a long time. I thought she was never going to get out of that rut... So, I'm glad she's found you. But, just...please don't mess with her heart. I know you don't live here, so if you don't plan on making it work, please don't lead her on. It's not fair to either of you. That's really all I wanted to say."  
Wow...As a matter of fact, I didn't know anything about her ex boyfriend. She never told me. And I honestly didn't know if I should ask. I mean, she never pressured me about talking about Beth. I was definitely shocked. Rut? What rut? There's one thing I did know: I wasn't leading Tori on. I truly cared about her, as a friend and as a girlfriend. She was unlike any other, and I didn't want to lose her. And that's what I told her mom.  
"I really care about your daughter and I don't plan on hurting her. I could never dream of doing that. I just want her to be happy." Her mom gave me a small smile.  
"So do I."  
And that was it, she walked away.  
I had a lot on my mind now...

*Tori's POV*  
During the car ride to my parents hotel, Dan was unusually quiet. It was like something was bothering him. I just ignored it and decided to ask him about it later.  
After we dropped my parents off we went to Dan's hotel. I've been spending the night here for the past week, since Ari's back at the apartment.  
The car ride there was silent, too. He didn't even hold my hand.  
After we got to his room, he collapsed on the bed, laying on his stomach.  
"Tired?" I asked and sat next to him. I rubbed his back. He said nothing.  
"Babe? Are you okay?" I tried again.  
"Mmm...I'm fine." He mumbled.  
"Are you sure?"  
"Yeah..."  
"Did you not like my parents or something?" I stopped rubbing his back and he looked up at me.  
"No, Tori, I loved your parents! Dinner was great."  
"Then what's wrong?" I asked quietly.  
"Nothing. Really." He smiled halfheartedly and stood. He leaned down and kissed me.  
"Well...if you say so." I mumbled against his lips. I was kind of disappointed because I was hoping we could, um, do "it" for the first time but tonight obviously wasn't going to be the night. I'd been waiting for the last couple days since I decided that I cared a lot about Dan and I was ready.  
I looked at the time on my phone: 9:06.  
"Want to watch some TV?" I suggested as he changed out of his clothes and into sweatpants and nothing more.  
"Sure." He said.  
I grabbed his laptop and browsed the shows he had on there. He had all of the seasons of most of the shows he liked.  
I chose Downtown Abbey and then changed into another one of Dan's t-shirts. I also rubbed some cocoa butter on my tattoo.  
I got under the covers with the laptop resting on my lap and Dan got in next to me.  
I snuggled into his side and he put his arm around me as I clicked play.  
I rested my head on his shoulder.  
After a couple of episodes, we decided to go to sleep.  
I curled up next to him. We usually stay like that for some time and talk until one of us falls asleep. But tonight, Dan immediately fell asleep. I guess he didn't feel like talking tonight. I wonder what's bothering him, because I know something is.

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A/N: Yooo can I get 3 reviews? Ily guys.


	15. Gotta Fall Before You Fly

A/N: Song for this chapter: Who Are You Now by Sleeping With Sirens  
~Sometimes you gotta fall before you fly  
And sometimes you really live, you've gotta try  
We can change it all together, in the end you're gonna find  
That what we felt in our hearts was real the whole time  
When you open up your eyes, I hope that you find  
Who you are, who you are~  
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My parents stayed the entire weekend and left on Sunday night.  
We did tourist-y things like going out to dinner every night and buying souvenirs. To my surprise, I actually loved the weekend with my parents. They really liked Dan and were happy for us.  
In other news, Ari ended up loving her first date with Mark and they continued to go out. They're officially dating and I couldn't be happier for Ari. Mark was a really cool guy. He was a lot like Ari, with his gorgeous blonde hair and striking blue eyes. They were both goof balls and would probably be together for awhile.  
Dan was still being a little weird. Whenever we started to get in the mood, he would stop and say he was tired or something. I should probably confront him about it...but I don't know. I didn't want to be a pain or anything. And I would hope that he trusted me enough to tell me if it was really something huge. So it must not be. But still...  
Two weeks went by and on Saturday we decided to go out for ice cream. Things have been going really insanely good for us and I've been falling for Dan harder and harder everyday. Even though he's still a little distant, I try to ignore it. We still haven't brought up the long distance thing or when he would be leaving. We also still haven't had sex. Arggh.  
Luckily, the danosaurs have started to be a lot more supportive. And I'm really happy about that. I want his fans to like me.  
At the ice cream place, I ordered my usual chocolate-vanilla twist with rainbow sprinkles and Dan simply ordered a chocolate cone.  
I reached for his hand and intertwined them as we walked over to the picnic tables that were outside of the place.  
"The weather here is insane." Dan commented.  
"What do you mean?"  
"The weather has been insanely great since I've been here. London weather makes me sad." He said with a pouty face. I giggled.  
"Is the weather as bad as everyone says?"  
"The infamous London weather? Rainy, windy, and overall crappy. Here it's all rainbows and unicorns." I smiled and he licked his ice cream. We sat quietly for awhile.  
I decided that I should finally bring up Dan's weirdness and ask him what's been bothering him for the past two weeks.  
"Dan?" I asked. He looked at me.  
"Yeah?"  
"If something was really bothering you, you'd, um, tell me, right? I mean, you trust me, right?" I reached my hand across the table and placed it on top of Dan's. He furrowed his brows.  
"Of course I trust you. I'm fine. Why won't you just believe that?" He said, with a hint of annoyance clear in his voice.  
"You know you can tell me anything, Dan, right?"  
"Tori. Can you please stop?" He said angrily and looked down.  
"Stop what?" I asked, confused.  
"Just...nothing." He stood and sighed.  
"I'm tired. Let's go back to the hotel room." He mumbled and started walking to the car. I stared at his back, completely shocked. What the hell was bothering him?!  
"Dan!?" I ran after him. I pulled on his arm and he stopped. People around us started looking.  
"What?" He asked, still angry.  
"What's wrong with you?!" I practically shouted. My eyes burned and tears threatened to spill. My chest tightened.  
"Can we not do this now?" He looked embarrassed.  
"Then when?! You never really talk to me anymore and you're so distant!"  
"Distant? We've only been dating for a month! We're not married, so lay off!"  
I gasped and took a step back. Tears started slipping down my cheeks and I stared at him in disbelief.  
I can't believe he just said that to me. It's like he hates me! I know we haven't been dating that long but I still care! I can't believe I liked someone who was so mean. This wasn't the Dan I knew at all. This must be who he truly was.  
The anger completely left his expression when he saw that he made me cry. He looked so guilty and upset.  
"Oh my fucking God. Tori, I'm so sorry! I don't know why I said that." He sounded hoarse as he reached out to hug me. I stepped out of his reach and started sobbing.  
"If you... didn't like... me, you could've just... said so..." I said between sobs.  
"Tori. I like you so much you have no fucking idea! I'm so sorry. I'm such an asshole, I'm sorry." His eyes were pleading.  
"You're sorry?! You're acting like a completely different person. Who are you?! Admit it, Dan! You don't like me. I'm a loser. I'm disgusting. I'm terrible. Just admit it." I scowled at him.  
He slowly walked up to me.  
"Tori...NONE of that is true! You're the most beautiful girl in the entire world. You're so awesome and funny and smart. I've never met a girl who was as cute and amazing as you. I like you more than I've ever liked anyone. You have to believe that." Some of the girls around us awww'd.  
I can't believe he feels that way. That was the sweetest thing I have ever heard. Now, THAT was the Dan I knew.  
He reached his hands up to my face and wiped my tears away.  
"Dan..." I said quietly, looking into his chocolatey eyes.  
"You have to believe that." He repeated.  
Without saying anything, I wrapped my arms around his neck, stood on my tippy toes, and kissed him passionately.  
He pulled me close and lifted me and I wrapped my legs around his waist.  
People around us started clapping and I smirked into the kiss. I felt the familiar butterflies I always had when I kissed Dan.  
We both pulled our lips away and I rested my forehead on his.  
"I'm sorry." He whispered again, his breath was hot and tingly against my lips. I leaned in for another kiss.  
Reluctantly, he put me down.  
"Can we talk back at the hotel room?" He asked.  
"Yes." I said simply.  
He looked around at all of the people staring at us.  
"Alright, show's over people." He said with a laugh.  
Then, he grabbed my hand and we went to the car and drove back to his hotel room.  
Once inside, we kicked off our shoes and sat on his bed.  
"There's a lot on my mind." Dan started.  
"I could tell." I said lightly. He half-smiled at me and continued.  
"It's just...I know I've been distant or whatever. I've been thinking a lot about someone."  
"...Who?" I asked cautiously.  
"Your ex boyfriend." My jaw dropped.  
"What do you mean?" I stammered. He ran his fingers through his hair.  
"Your mum said something about how your ex boyfriend was bad news."  
"My mom told you about him?!" I said frantically.  
"No! She thought I already knew about it and I didn't correct her. I've been waiting for you to tell me, but you haven't."  
"He's none of your business, Dan. He's my past, okay? You're my now." Dan smiled and pulled me onto his lap. I rested my head on his shoulder.  
"I know but...Jesus, Tori, I don't know. I feel like maybe you don't trust me."  
"I trust you. But it's just really personal."  
"I want to help you."  
"I'm fine." I said quickly. He tightened his grip on me.  
"I don't think you are. You're always putting yourself down and I think it had to do with him. I know I sound like a jerk for asking this, but, can you tell me what happened?"  
"You know what, Dan? How about you tell me what happened with Beth. You dated for, what, 7 months and then you suddenly broke it off. How about you tell me why?" He looked hurt for a second but recovered.  
"How about you tell me what happened with your ex and I'll tell you what happened with Beth? Deal?"  
I sighed.  
"Deal."  
I took a breath and began...

•••••••••••••••••••••


	16. What Are You So Scared Of?

A/N: Song for this chapter: What Are You So Scared Of? by Tonight Alive. Enjoy the chapter and maybe leave a comment? 3  
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For the past month we've been dating, I've gotten to know Dan better than I ever thought I would. I know so much about him and he knows so much about me. I trust him with my deepest secrets and I feel like I can tell him anything. He makes me feel great about myself. He gives me a purpose.  
I think I lo-no...maybe I'm mistaken.  
Anyway, I never thought it would be important for him to know about my ex. But it touched my heart that he cared enough to want to know. He deserved to know. Maybe he doesn't want to make the same mistakes.  
And with Beth, I would be lying if I said I didn't want to know why they broke up. When you date someone for 7 months, you should probably know if you're meant to be or not. They obviously weren't. And I was curious as to why they weren't.  
With Dan's arms wrapped around me, I felt safe. I buried my face in the crook of his neck before beginning.  
He kissed the top of my head.  
I finally just started to tell the story.  
"It was about halfway through 11th grade. My only friend at the time was Ari. She was dating this football player. The quarterback, I'm pretty sure. Ari told me that one of his friends was interested in me. I was shocked, which is totally lame. Anyway, his name was Jesse. He was really good looking and could probably have any girl...honestly. At first, he was really nice to me. He paid attention to me. I started to like him a lot. We would hang out a lot when his friends weren't around. He didn't tell anyone we were dating...he wanted to keep it a secret. He was embarrassed of me..." A tear slipped down my cheek and I wiped it away.  
"He said he liked me but that there was no way he could bring me around his friends. I didn't really care because he was still really nice and cool and I just liked him a lot. So, anyway, we secretly dated for awhile. But then...he started to change. We stopped hanging out as much and most of his time was consumed by football and parties. He also tried to get me to change. He only wanted me because I started putting out..." I felt so ashamed. I continued,  
"He started just...being really mean. He would put me down constantly and wouldn't really listen to me anymore. He didn't want anyone at all to know about me. He said he couldn't take me out in public. And then it got so much worse...  
He didn't hit me or anything. He would just push me or shove me or whatever. It still hurt like hell. Emotionally and physically. I forgave him constantly because I thought I still liked him. Then, turns out, he had been cheating on me for most of our relationship. With a bunch of different girls." I started crying again and Dan kissed my neck. I continued.  
"I finally got up the courage to confront him about it. He started freaking out at me. He said if I was prettier he wouldn't have done it. He said he was happier now that he was rid of me. He said he never even liked me. After that, I got really depressed. My anxiety was really bad and I pretty much hated myself. I thought I was never going to escape that. But, then I found YouTube. Making videos has pretty much saved my life. That's...really it. That's what happened."  
After I finished, Dan just held me for awhile as I silently cried into his chest.  
It's true, Jesse really messed me up. I thought all guys were jerks and I felt like shit. I became insanely insecure and I felt totally unwanted. I'm so lucky I have Dan now.  
"Tori..." Dan was whispering. "The way he treated you...what a dick. You didn't deserve that at all. He was such an idiot. He didn't realize that he had the prettiest girl in the world. I promise you that I'll never treat you like that. Ever. And I'm really proud of you for telling me."  
I looked up at Dan and he smiled at me. I placed me hands on his cheeks and pulled him down to kiss him.  
"Thank you. For everything." I whispered and kissed him again.  
He rubbed my back and I instantly felt better.  
"Well, I guess it's my turn. Oh boy." Dan said and I rested my head on his shoulder again.  
"I met Bethany at a club. I know what you're thinking. Me?! At a club?! Pretty crazy." I smiled to myself. "Anyway, I was sitting with a group of friends at the bar. I should mention that I was thinking of ways I could kill myself at the bar and make it look like an accident. Yeah... I'm really not into clubs. But since I like to drink, I did that to pass the time. Have to admit, I was pretty hammered. So this girl with the longest black hair starts speaking to me and the next thing I know, we're making out. The next thing I remember is waking up the next day at her apartment. Being the waffly twat I truly am, I actually waited for her to wake up and I APOLOGIZED to her. I don't even know what I apologized for. Jesus... So anyway we actually get to talking and I think she's pretty cool. And at first, we actually had a great time. I really liked her and I liked that I could make her laugh. Because I'm a cocky dillhole." I smiled. He continued,  
"Things were going good for about 4 months when she suddenly started changing. She started becoming really distant and it was almost like she was hiding something from me."  
"Oh noes." I whispered and a laugh built up in Dan's chest.  
"It's almost like she started hating me. She only wanted to hang around me to be in videos or be in my live shows or whatever. I didn't want to admit we started drifting apart so I pretended our relationship was perfect. Which it obviously wasn't. And she always was over some friends house, yet refused to tell me which friend. One day, I got so sick of pretending, that I followed her car to wherever her 'friends' house was.  
And turns out, she'd been cheating on me. I got incredibly upset, considering I wasted 7 months on her. I wanted to clear my head and just get away from London. As far away as possible. I got insanely lucky one evening when the prettiest girl in the world tweeted me and changed my life. And the rest is history..."  
Wow. So Beth cheated on him. I couldn't believe it. I just figured they naturally drifted apart and ended it. Apparently not.  
"Was that last part really true? I changed your life?" I whispered and looked up at Dan.  
"Absolutely." Dan smiled down at me and kissed my temple.  
"I don't believe that." I said honestly.  
"Tori. You. Changed. My. Life. Fucking. Deal. With. It." He punctuated every word with a kiss and I smiled.  
"So wait, why didn't you want to tell me about Beth?" He sighed.  
"Because I was just trying to avoid it. I never want to make those same mistakes again. And every time I think about Beth, I think about how our love was fake. And I guess I'm just scared." His eyes were thoughtful.  
"What are you so scared of?"  
"I don't know. I guess I'm just scared that I'll never find genuine love. I'm scared of being in love and then figuring out it was all fake. As stupid and corny as that sounds."  
"Do you feel that way with me?" I asked quietly, my heart beating fast.  
Dan gave me a long look. And suddenly, he crashed our lips together.  
I sighed into the kiss and Dan deepened it. I wrapped my arms around Dan's neck and he hugged me tight.  
We pulled away to breathe and I mumbled "Don't stop." Dan really looked at me for a split second then smiled.  
The kiss started again and I started to tug at Dan's collar. He broke the kiss and I quickly slipped his jumper over his neck and I tossed it aside.  
As we continued to kiss, Dan started to lift my shirt up. I took over and quickly had it off and on the floor.  
Our lips connected again and Dan lifted me and we both collapsed further up on the bed. I was on top and I started to kiss Dan's neck. I felt him shiver under my lips.  
"Tori..." Dan moaned and I kissed him on the lips again. He pressed against my body and was suddenly on top and straddling me.  
We were both breathing hard and kissing passionately. Our hearts were racing. I tangled my fingers in his hair and tugged softly as he started to plant kisses along my collarbone. I felt butterflies and bit my lower lip.  
With shaky hands, I started to unzip his jeans. I million thoughts were racing through my mind. I was ready to give him my everything.  
Within seconds, the remainder of our clothes were tossed to the floor and Dan was fumbling for something in the drawer next to the bed. I knew what was about to happen and I was grinning like an idiot.

Moments later, I was curled up into Dan's side and my head rested on his bare chest. His arms were lightly wrapped around me. I could stay like this forever.  
Tonight was one of the best nights of my life and everything felt so right.  
I thought Dan was sleeping, my own eyelids were growing heavy, until I heard him whisper my name.  
"Mhmm?" I mumbled against his chest and smiled.  
"I love you."


	17. Fairy Tale Paradise

A/N: Song for this chapter: Paradise by Coldplay. Don't forget to read the authors note at the end!  
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I glanced up at Dan and caught him looking at me. What he just said...I must have misheard him. There's no way that he actually loves me. Me? Of all the girls he could definitely have? Why did he choose to fall in love with me?!  
"What?" I asked him, clearly shocked.  
His chocolatey eyes were shiny black orbs in the darkness. His fringe was messily swept across his forehead. He looked unbelievably handsome.  
"Tori, I love you. I really do." He smiled at me and a smile played on my own lips.  
"Dan." I whispered in awe as I reached up and gave him a kiss.  
"I love you, too." I said to him without hesitation.  
He looked flushed with relief and gave me another kiss.  
"I can't believe it," He whispered in a cute sleepy voice. "We're in love. Really in love. Damn." My smile widened. I closed my eyes and snuggled deeper into his side. He wrapped his arms tighter around me.  
I felt safe.  
"I don't know what I'd do without you." I whispered, mostly to myself. He heard me and replied, "Ditto."  
I felt so incredible. Dan actually truly loved me. I never thought this would happen. It felt unreal. And I loved him back. I completely trusted him and he was my best friend. Just thinking about him made my heart race. His kisses gave me butterflies. We had so much in common and he completed me. For once in my life, I was so insanely happy.

When I woke up the next morning, I carefully wriggled out of Dan's arms since he was still asleep. I looked down at him sleeping and smiled. He looked so cute. I remembered what happened last night and my heart seemed to beat out of my chest. We said we loved each other. I felt like I was floating.  
I checked my phone and saw it was 9:03. My stomach growled.  
I quietly tiptoed over to my suitcase which was laying on the floor next to the window. I took out my white ripped skinny jeans and pulled them on. I then found my black Ramones tank top and put that on as well. I also decided to wear my black vans.  
Satisfied, I tiptoed into the bathroom and brushed my teeth, straightened my hair, and applied my make up. I had re-dyed my teal tips a couple days ago and I admired the vibrant color.  
I grabbed some money and my phone off the dresser.  
I left the hotel room and walked down the hallway to where a couple vending machines were. I leaned against one and pulled out my phone. I searched my contacts for Ari's number and clicked on it. I tapped my foot impatiently on the ground until she answered.  
"Hello?" Ari answered with a yawn.  
"Hey! You're never going to believe what happened!"  
"Sweetie, it's like 9:30 in the morning. Can this wait?!" She asked, obviously annoyed.  
"Nope! Me and Dan slept together." I grinned. I heard Ari gasp.  
"Aww! That's so great!" She chirped.  
"That's not the best part. He said he loves me," My heart ached and I felt overwhelmed with joy.  
"Ohmygodareyouserious?!" She shouted.  
"Yes! I'm still shocked."  
"He didn't say it during it, did he?"  
"Oh gosh no. After. And he also said that I changed his life."  
"That's so sweet!" She gushed. "Did you say it back?"  
"Yeah, I did. I really love him, Ari. He's so sweet and funny and cute and just...perfect."  
"He treats you really good."  
"Exactly."  
"Well, I'm just so happy for you guys! You're so perfect together. I realized that the minute you two met at VidCon last year."  
"Really?"  
"I could tell by the way he looked at you." I grinned to myself.  
"Well, I'm gonna g-" I was cut off with some mumbling in the background.  
"Who's that?" I asked.  
"Hold on one sec, baby." Ari said to whoever it was. "Oh Tori, that's just Mark."  
"Mark, huh?" I smirked. "So has he been sleeping over while I've been at Dan's hotel room?"  
"Oh, um, actually, I'm over at his place right now." She murmured, and I could practically see her grinning.  
"Nice. I'll talk to you later."  
"Bye, girly!" Click. I slide my phone into my back pocket.  
I got two Cokes, one for me and one for Dan. I also got a bag of M&Ms for me and Twix for Dan. I made my way back to the hotel room.  
When I got there, Dan was awake, still undressed, wrapped up in the covers, and watching TV.  
"Hey, babe." He smiled at me and I walked over and kissed him.  
"Morning." I smiled and handed him his Coke and Twix bars.  
"Oh my god, I'm starving." He whined, unwrapping the Twix. I rolled my eyes.  
I looked to see what he was watching and smiled when I saw it was Adventure Time.  
"You know, I only love you because you watch Adventure Time." I said to him as I popped a couple of M&Ms into my mouth. Dan eyes lit up at the word 'love' and he smirked at me.  
"And I only love you because you tolerate my love of Adventure Time, arguably the greatest thing to ever exist."  
"You're cute."  
"Don't I know it." He winked. My heart did a flip flop in my chest.  
"There goes that lovable modesty again."  
"I try, I try." He said, munching his Twix bar.  
"So, hey, I thought today we should do something really fun, like go to Disney World."  
"Really?" He perked up.  
"Yeah, why not? Get dressed and we'll go."  
Moments later, Dan was dressed in a white t-shirt that had a design on it, black skinny jeans, and his black TOMS. While he was dressing, I sat cross legged on the bed with my laptop on my lap. I scrolled through Tumblr, and responded to comments on my latest video. In it, I talked about the different types of Tumblr users. I loved everything involving the Internet, so things like Tumblr were common topics in my videos. I had filmed it back at my apartment and edited it at Dan's hotel room.  
He straightened his hair and finished the last of his Coke.  
Then, we headed out.

We arrived at Disney World around noon and had the entire afternoon to just enjoy ourselves.  
We stood in a gigantic line to get our passes. We got the most expensive one which allowed us to cut in line, which was perfect. It was towards the end of May, so it wasn't extremely packed.  
After that, we wondered aimlessly, hand in hand, going on a ride here and there. Some of the rides included Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle Cruise, and I laughed when Dan insisted we go on a Winnie The Pooh ride.  
We both vlogged but I doubt that Dan was going to actually upload his vlog. Poor danosaurs.  
When we approached a Roller Coaster Dan wanted to go on, I crossed my arms and shook my head. Roller Coasters terrified me. My heart beat too fast and my limbs felt like jelly. I never understood why people loved the overwhelming rush of terror the ride provided.  
Dan stopped and looked at me.  
"What? I'm not going on that thing. Do you want me to die?!" I asked, a little too dramatically. He laughed and shook his head.  
"You won't die."  
"How do you know that? The ride could break or-"  
"Tori," Dan put his hands on my shoulders.  
"Nothing bad will happen. Trust me. If you don't like it, you won't have to go on another ever again."  
"Do you. Want me. To die?" I repeated.  
"C'mon Tor," He whined. "Just this one. Please? I'll protect you."  
I smirked at him.  
"You're going to protect me? How?"  
"I'll let you squeeze my hand as hard as you want."  
"Tempting," I smiled then stared up at the huge Roller Coaster in front of us. My hands went cold and my heart beat quickened.  
"I don't know," I said quietly.  
"Unless you're chicken," he challenged me.  
"You know, since you're trying so hard to convince me, I guess...I'll go," I immediately regretted saying that.  
Dan grinned at me and dropped his hands that were on my shoulders. He took my hand in his and dragged me over to the ride.  
"What have I done?" I whispered to myself, my anxiety worsening at the thought of going on the ride.  
Dan flashed our passes and lead me to our seats. He slid in first and I followed, then he pulled down the metal bar over our laps. I felt my heart pounding in my ears as the ride started.  
I immediately grabbed onto Dan's hand. He squeezed to reassure me and whispered, "You're going to love this," I doubt it.  
The Roller Coaster inched its way up the tracks until we reached the top. I closed my eyes, and I felt Dan squeeze my hand again.  
Then, we were plunging down. Wind blasted my hair and whipped it behind me. I opened my eyes and held in a scream as the Roller Coaster sped down the tracks. My stomach, and heart, dropped and I felt like my insides were being mixed in a blender.  
I was probably cutting off the circulation in Dan's hand.  
Dan screamed with pleasure as we raced down. He was grinning. He was loving it.  
Despite the pit of anxiety in my stomach, it was a complete rush. If I wasn't so terrified, I'd probably be loving it too. I was definitely stepping out of my comfort zone. Having Dan here with me, just...gave me confidence. He was making me a better person. I loved him for that.  
"Woooo!" Dan shouted next to me and squeezed me hand again.  
I was surprised when I realized I was grinning.

After the ride ended, I stumbled off, feeling dizzy, and Dan grabbed my waist to steady me.  
He pulled me close and I leaned into him as we walked away. He was bursting with energy.  
"Did you like it?" He asked me.  
"It was...weird. In a good way," I said to him. "I can't believe you got me to do something crazy like that!" He laughed and gave me a cheeky grin before pressing his lips to mine.  
"I love you." He mumbled against my lips and I smiled.  
"I love you, too." I whispered.  
We walked hand in hand to the next ride.

After awhile, we decided to get some food. The sun was beating hard and I was happy to get inside for awhile. We found a place called The Crystal Palace and decided to eat there. The wait was kind of long but we eventually were seated. It was beautiful inside. We made small talk until the waiter came to order our drinks.  
I ordered a Shirley Temple, being the five year that old I am, and Dan ordered a regular Coke, which is his favorite soda.  
I looked around and noticed that people in Disney character costumes were walking around and taking pictures with kids. It was really cute.  
"We should get our pictures taken," I said to Dan.  
"No, that's so embarrassing," He wrinkled his nose.  
"What? How?"  
"We're not little kids."  
"We sure act like it sometimes."  
"Maybe. But that doesn't mean I want my picture taken with a life sized Tigger."  
"Killjoy," I stuck my tongue out at him and he shook his head, laughing.  
After the waiter returned with our drinks, walked over to the buffet to get our food.  
I held my plate and walked around, getting what I wanted. Eventually, both our plates were filled and we went back to our seats.  
I got chicken strips, macaroni & cheese, and mashed potatoes. While Dan simple got some mashed potatoes and steak.  
The food was delicious and the atmosphere was amazing.  
After we got done eating, we went to the self serving ice cream machine and got ourselves some desert.  
We finished our ice creams and tossed our cups in the trash. We decided to go souvenir shopping since we were both stuffed and couldn't imagine going on more rides for awhile.  
The souvenir shop was huge, as expected, and filled with all kinds of stuff. T-shirts, toys, novelty stuff, and much more. Since I love Mickey Mouse, and since he's my favorite Disney character, I gravitated toward his merch. I ended up buying a cute Mickey Mouse tank top and Mickey Mouse watch.  
Dan couldn't make up his mind on what he wanted. We had a lot of fun goofing around and looking at all kinds of things. He ended up just getting a shirt.  
After going on a few more rides, we were beat. We sat down on a bench and sat awhile.  
"Today's been a lot of fun," I commented. Dan took my hand and laced our fingers.  
"I don't want it to end," He said quietly and I rested my head on his shoulder.  
"I love you," I said, and I never wanted to stop saying it, because I really meant it.  
"I love you right back."  
I smiled and closed my eyes.  
This was paradise. I've dreamt of having this and now it's finally mine.  
We eventually got up, and the sun was starting to set.  
When we were driving out of the park, the sky was streaks of pinks and oranges and purples. A beautiful sunset. As usual, I was thinking about Dan. And what life was going to be like when he finally left. It's comforting to think that even though we'll be thousands of miles apart, we'll still see the same sunset.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed! Don't forget to vote and leave a comment c:


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